Making Your Own Rock and Rye whiskey

My dad used to talk about Rock-and-Rye all the time.
"You can't find it in liquor stores anymore," he would say, "I've asked the sales clerks and they all look at me crazy. I found one older guy who knew what I was talking about, but he told me no one makes it anymore."

So I knew that making him a batch of home-made Rock-and-Rye, would be the perfect gift for Father's Day.

That older guy at the liquor store wasn't entirely correct. You still can buy a product labeled Rock-and-Rye at some stores. Two liqueur brands, Mr. Boston and Jacquin’s, continue to make syrupy liqueur versions, (a rock-and-rye cordial, if you will) but they are a far cry from the honest-to-goodness thing. The syrup version may have supplanted the original version because of Rock-and-Rye's historical reputation as a cough suppressant.
Real Rock-and-Rye should be a sweet and stiff drink and, as the name states, is basically American Rye whiskey mixed with rock candy. Why rock candy specifically you may ask? Well, so that you can give it to your four-year-old when they have a cough. Oh wait, strike that. You must use rock candy instead of simple syrup as the sweetener, because the water in the simple syrup reduces the proof of the final concoction.

Rye whiskey with rock candy is probably pretty good on its own, but after a few searches on the net, I read that citrus and cherry were also traditional ingredients. So I set to work on trying my first batch of Rock-and-Rye, and my Dad would be the test subject, err... lucky recipient.

1 750 bottle of American Rye Whiskey ( I used Old Overholt)
2 1-quart canning jars
1 orange
1 lemon
pieces of rock candy
4 brandied or fresh cherries
(Good God! Don't use those fake day-glo maraschino cherries)
2 small cubes of pineapple if you have them in you kitchen. I did.

Place 2 or 3 pieces of rock sugar in each of the jars. You can experiment with the amount of sugar, based on how sweet you like your drinks. My dad isn't a huge fan of really sweet drinks, so I used 2 three-inch pieces in each jar. Slice the lemon and orange into thick slices, discarding the point ends to juice later, and throw 2 or 3 or each into each jar. Toss in two cherries and the pineapple cube if you have them. Fill the jar with the whiskey. The 750 bottle should be enough to cover all the fruit in both jars. It is important that the fruit be covered.

Let sit a day, and then gently shake the jar once or twice to mix the sugary whiskey with the not so sugary at the top. Taste and see how it is coming along. Within a day or two, the rock sugar will be completely dissolved on the bottom. As you serve the drink, top off the jar with more fresh whiskey and sugar, keeping the fruit covered at all times. If the fruit starts to discolor, it can be removed and replaced. The alcohol level is high enough that it will prevent spoilage of the fruit.

LeNell Smothers, a New York City bartender, and former liquor store owner, has her own recipe that calls for, among the standard ingredients, fresh cherries, dried apricots, pineapple, and horehound, a bitter herb that is thought to suppress coughs.

Pineapple Sage Infused Tequila Part Two

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The first batch of Pineapple & Sage infused Tequila went so well, I thought I would try another batch - and perhaps try to increase the flavor.
If a little is good - more must be better, right?
Well, not necessarily.

I used the food processor to puree the pineapple before adding the sage and tequila, and the end result, after a week of infusing, was a 'juicier' product, with more pineapple flavor, but less alcohol kick, as I obviously extracted more liquid from the fruit. I am still not sure if I extracted more flavor, all I succeeded in doing was adding pineapple juice to tequila.

So a word of advice to those infusing fruit flavor into spirits.
Increase surface area, yes.
Pulverize into a pulp with food processor, no.

Rita Hayworth attempt #1

My experiment with the house-made pineapple-sage infused tequila resulted in a very intensely flavored spirit, and I was in a big hurry to try recreating Elettaria's Rita Hayworth cocktail.

Having never had the pleasure to try this, I had to take a wild guess at the proportions, and after a quick shake and a taste, the wife said it was perfect for her - but probably too sweet to serve to our friends. A quick adjustment in the ratio of flavored tequila and unflavored silver tequila resulted in a cocktail that was deliriously fruity, perfectly balanced, and mysteriously complex. While my infusion may need some more adjusting, I may have nailed a new cocktail for us, on the first try.
Cheers, across the state, to Joseph at Elatteria.


2 oz. Home-made Pineapple-Sage Infused Silver Tequila
1 oz. Silver Tequila
2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
.5 oz. honey
.5 oz simple syrup

Pre-chill a cocktail glass with ice and dump. Squeeze a portion of lime peel into the glass so that the lime oil tinctures the glass and rub the peel over the rim of the glass.
Shake ingredients in the shaker, with ice until very cold, and fine strain into the glass.
Garnish with a lime wheel.

Rhubarb Infused Gin

I went to the farmer's market early last Saturday morning. It is rhubarb season here in balmy Buffalo, and I picked up a few stalks for two bucks.
On Sunday morning, I sliced 'em up and added them to a pint of gin. I used Tanqueray, because it was the least fancy gin that I had on hand.
I left it on the counter, and when I returned from work, I saw that the rhubarb slices had quickly given up their color. It took just a day to tint the gin a rosy pink, and two days before I thought it might be getting too tart. A quick strain through a coffee filter, a tablespoon of simple syrup, and I have a new pink-tart ingredient to play with.
I am curious to find out how to scale up the recipe for larger proportions. A recipe I found online calls for equal amounts of rhubarb and sugar, and having the mixture sit in gin for two months.

Pineapple-Sage infused Tequila

I often read, and occasionally post, to a cocktail enthusiast and bartender's web forum called The Chanticleer Society. A new gent, named Joseph, from a bar and restaurant called Elettaria in NYC, introduced himself to the online community and, as usual, I was curious about the bar and googled their site.
While perusing their online cocktail menu, I was struck by a few imaginative cocktails, and one in particular caught my attention- The Rita Hayworth. Pineapple & Sage Infused Herradura
Silver Tequila, Lime, & Honey. Now, my wife and I enjoy margaritas probably more than the next couple- and with my wife's predilection for fruity spirits, and my interest in trying new spirit infusions - I knew this could only be a good idea. And... there was an over-ripe pineapple on the kitchen counter, and sage growing in our herb garden. Coincidence? I think not.
Brian, head bartender at Elettaria, (can one meet other people through the internet? It seems such a Douglas Coupland contrivance,) wrote to tell me that most everything from the cocktail menu was his creation, except for the Rita Hayworth, which came from Brian at Death & Company.
I decided against using the $30 bottle of 100% agave Herradura for my first test, opting instead for some very serviceable Sauza Silver tequila. If I was going to make a botched batch of infused tequila that would quickly become the latest version of Liquid Plumber, it would be best not to use the expensive booze.
I loaded a pint canning jar with cubed pineapple and four or five medium sized sage leaves, and filled it with the tequila. About 5 days in the fridge is all it took to infuse the spirit with plenty of pineapple-sage flavor and aroma. A quick run through a fine sieve before going through a paper coffee filter, and the golden-colored liquid was bottled. Your results may vary.
I tried a little, shaken quickly with ice and then served on the rocks, and it is delicious. I am sure this is going to be a staple in my bar.