Nate's Bar & Grill

If there was one aspect of Nate that endeared him to everyone was that he shared, he shared his knowlege of science, of literature and of course, food and drink. He never sounded like he was making pronouncements from on high (as I know I do), he was simply sharing his knowlege and through that himself and blessedly, his family has as well in the last few days, kindly including us in the circle of those that knew and cared for Nathan. Tonight the Ringboard is going into a 24 silent vigil to honor him as tomorrow is his funeral.

Though as one who had talked to Nate, I can say the idea of Nate and silence in the same sentance brings a smile to my face *chuckle*. So In keeping with Nate's open hand, I will share some of the drink recipes he concocted or tweaked. He liked bring enjoyment to people, and I hope you all find these recipes as enjoyable as many of us have. Just one condition: When you make it for the first time, raise your glass and toast Nathan Schumer, a gentlman and a scholar in the truest sense of the words.

This first drink was one he created for a fellow board memember from New Zealand:

The Bellbird:

1oz light Rum
1oz gold Rum
half oz Razzmatazz (Raspberry Schnapps) or Creme de Cassis or Chambord

Three quarters fill with Cranberry Juice
One quarter fill with Pineapple Juice
Garnish with a squeeze of lime

Build drink in a tall, iced glass, roll into a shaker for a few shakes.
Roll back into glass and serve.

Nate's Vodka Gimlet:

“If you look up a Vodka Gimlet in a bar book it will probably say something like 1.5 ounces of vodka plus 1/2 oz. of Rose's Lime Juice - that's just gross, I don't like RLJ at all, way too sweet and artificial tasting. As much as possible I use fresh juices - one of these days I'll make my own batch of sweet and sour but I haven't been making that many drinks at the house lately.

I haven't made it in a while, so I'd encourage you to try it out and adjust if you make this at home, but I "researched" this at home until I got it just right and I think it was this:

1.5 ounces of vodka (Skyy, Absolut, or Stoli would be decent choices)
1.5 ounces of fresh lime juice
2 Tb. of sugar (use granulated - superfine if you can get it)

Pour ingredients into a mixing glass with a scoop of ice, shake well and strain into a chilled glass. (You will have to shake it a bit to get the sugar to dissolve)."

Nate's replacement for the detested Rose's Lime Juice:

“On that subject, I combined my interest in cocktails, cooking background and scientific training tonight in order to develop a homemade recipe for sweet and sour mixer that is used in cocktails. I try to use fresh juices in drinks whenever possible, I don’t care much for the standard sour mix that is used in most bars and I cannot abide the syrupy, artifical crap called Rose’s Lime Juice (which neither tastes nor smells like lime juice). Obviously when making drinks on the fly it isn’t practical to cut or squeeze citrus fruit to order so I figured that I could come up with a sour mix that could be made in any quantity. Here is what I came up with:

½ Cup lemon juice
½ Cup lime juice
1 ½ Cup water
½ Cup sugar

For those of the metric persuasion:

120 mls lemon juice
120 mls lime juice
360 mls water
120 mls or 100 g sugar*

Combine ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves. The sugar will go into solution more easily if you heat it but it should dissolve at room temperature. I would consider bringing it to a boil initially just to help sterilize it and extend the shelf life. While the low Ph and concentration of citric acid should be inhospitable to microorganisms this comes out as something like a concentrated lemonade so I don’t expect a long shelf life. Two weeks, perhaps, though I’ll keep tabs on the batch I made tonight and share my findings in the next issue of JBM, Journal of Biochemical Mixology."


The Washington Apple

1 oz. Crown Royal (or other Canadian Whisky)
1 oz. Apple Puckers
1 oz. Cranberry juice
splash of sweet and sour

shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass frosted with
cinnamon-sugar.

"That rim is my own touch on it and so far it's a hit - it's just the thing
to set it off and get you licking your lips.”

Blue drinks:

“Actually blue drinks are something of a specialty of mine. I'll make Wajz my Sea Foam martini:

Vanilla Rum, Blue Curacao, Orange juice and a splash of pineapple juice, strained into a chilled cocktail glass.”

Blue Hawiian - Light Rum, Blue Curacao, pineapple juice and sweet and sour.

Actually I think a similar but better drink (not quite as sweet, more refreshing) is Rum, Blue Curacao, pineapple juice and ginger ale or 7up. I made that one up so far as I know but in this game it's pretty tough to do anything for the first time. And if you do...would I want to drink it?"

The San Diego Siezure

"I invented another drink tonight on the spot. A guy who had been in the bar for the last two nights drinking beer asked for a Seizure. I told him I didn't know what that was but I'd look it up - he stopped me and told me I wouldn't find it because it didn't exist (yes he was getting tanked and was being a smartass). He told me to make something up that would taste like banana so I grabbed the Creme de Banana...and then the Malibu Rum. Poured them both into a collins glass and let the force flow through me...than reached out and filled it the rest of the way with OJ and pineapple juice, and finished it with a float of Bacardi 151. I garnished it with an orange wheel and cherry, this yellow-orange drink, and served it up. He loved it. He had three of them and couldn't shut up about it, just kept saying, "Wow, you've got a real winner here. This is a hell of a good drink." I wrote the recipe down for him to take with him. He called it a San Diego Seizure but I think I'll have to name it something else, don't really like the "Seizure" part. Another story from the Bartending Chronicles...”

The Carmel Apple Martini

"So here's the recipe. Note that while I won't make anything obscenely sweet this is for the folks who don't like to taste their alcohol and is probably best as an after dinner drink when you're craving dessert. My guess is that Athene and CTS wouldn't touch this thing but Loretta, Dirt and Wajz might be up for it. I can go either way, I generally like strong drinks but I can enjoy this one as well.

1.5 oz vodka
1.5 oz apple puckers
splash of sweet and sour
0.5 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 Tb. thin caramel sauce

combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice; shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Optional: drizzle caramel into the glass and gently pour the cocktail in so as not to disturb it.

Note - minus the caramel and butterscotch is my recipe for an apple martini. I actually put just a splash more puckers than vodka but for the caramel one I would keep the ratios even. Keep in mind that this is a pretty tame cocktail - a true apple martini would have be 3:1 vodka to apple puckers but it's rare that anyone ordering this drink wants a cocktail this strong. In my version that you don't taste the alcohol, it has a strong apple flavor and the sour gives it a little tanginess and takes the bite out of it. Some bartenders add 1/4 to 1/2 ounce of Midori but I can't say that I've tried it. It sounds good but I would make a different cocktail with that, not an Apple Martini."

Back off man, I'm a scientist.

Thanks to Dirtrum for collecting them.