The Enemy Is Of Class
Morning Comrades! As per usual we are going to be ending the week on more high notes. One, thank you for sharing this newsletter far and wide this week, it’s been interesting to see how this joint develops without any presence on IG, which is positive and that’s down to you. Please continue to help share this so that I really don’t have to continue making money for Zuck and his fascist death star. Same goes for this drop, let’s see how this does without any presence on IG, I am extremely curious about that.
With that I am extremely happy to announce that this weekend’s Black Lodges drop is now available. First up is a red fleece with an embroidered logo that I am particularly stoked on. Greta fit, slightly oversized, heavy and great quality, it has two front pockets, a large collar and a small zip at the front so the whole thing just does what a good fleece is supposed to.
Secondly, the Chanel / Chaos Long Sleeve returns after 3 years and as with all brandalism projects, all profits are donated to Doctors Without Borders.
With everything that I can say about this German election having been said and the post Merkel cult of personality pr push rolling out, watch this. There was and is something deeply rotten in the state of Denmark and Merkel’s legacy was just the tip of the iceberg.
Here are several other worthwhile clips from this week that should keep you interested for the weekend and away from the mind-numbing bullshit on everyones favourite streaming platforms.
We are going straight to another run of recipes from our resident contributors Ana and Tatjana of Balderdash Copenhagen and once again these are not only straight bangers but will bring you joy.
Baba Ganoush, as far as I am concerned, needs to be available daily, I literally cannot get enough of this beauty in me.
Ingredients: 2-3 aubergines, 2-3 cloves of garlic, one tea spoon of cumin, roasted and ground, 3 big whallops of tahina, lemon juice from one lemon, sat, pepper and parsley if you’re into it, and roasted sesame.
Step 1:
Use a fork to poke plenty of holes into the aubergines, pre heat your oven to maximum heat and whack them in there for a good 30 minutes.
Step 2:
Once done, scoop out the aubergine “meat” and let it dry out in a sieve. Add all the herbs, spices, tahina and lemon juice into a mixer, add, the aubergine “meat”, mix, you’re done. Add the parsley on top if you like and there you have it.
This classic first appears in the famous The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930 written by Harry Craddock, although the general consensus is that it predates that. It belongs to a 'family' of drinks not so much because of the ingredients or techniques as the red thread, but because the drinks purpose are to wake you from the dead – historically known as curing your hangover. It's a tart, fresh, herbal and boozy little fucker of a drink. This was a cocktail I learned fairly early on in my bartending career and I instantly fell in love with it. A good thing to remember with this drink is that it is boozier than it looks and tastes. The 'corpse reviver' family has had members lost to time, but from those who has survived the no.2 is by far the most popular.
Harry Craddock (1876-1963) was an English bartender, who worked hotel bars in the USA until the Prohibition. In 1920 he moved back to England and started working the famous Savoy Hotel. Here he not only bartended a long time, but he also wrote the book The Savoy Cocktail Book mentioned earlier. Just like the Jerry Thomas book I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this one is also mandatory reading for any bartender interested in cocktails. Not only does this book contain over 700 cocktail recipes from the early 1900's, but you also get a glimpse into the early European style of bartending. The Savoy is name to be reckoned with in my industry. This version is not going to be the original Savoy recipe, but if you're interested in that one it's fairly easy to look up. It's also worth noting that the CORPSE REVIVER NO.2 recipe from the Savoy book – the traditional one, still works fantastically. There's no real need to adjust the specs or anything. This version keeps the original specs too, but use Lillet Blanc/Cocchi Americano unlike the traditional.
WHAT YOU NEED:
- London dry gin
- Orange liqueur
- Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano - Absinthe or absinthe bitters
- FRESH lemon juice (no pulp thank you very much) - Ice cubes
- Shaker (I use glass-on-tin Boston)
- Hawthorne strainer
- Fine mesh strainer
- Coupette glass (place it in the fridge/freezer before starting, so it'll be cold when you're ready)
HOW YOU DO IT:
- First and foremost we're gonna do what's called a rinse. More specifically an absinthe rinse. Take your glass out of the fridge/freezer and pour very little absinthe into it. We're talking like 1⁄2-1 teaspoon. Swirl the glass around gently, so the absinthe runs over all of the inside of the glass, so it'll be covered by a thin layer. Turn the glass upside down while holding it over your sink, so any excess absinthe will drip out. Put the glass back into the fridge/freezer.
- Pour 2 cl of London dry gin, 2 cl Lillet Blanc/dry vermouth, 2 cl orange liquor and 2 cl lemon juice into your shaker. After pouring everything in, take the glass out of the fridge/freezer again.
- Put ice your shaker, put it together and shake for about 7-10 seconds. Remember: the minute the ice goes in, you gotta move fast.
- Put your Hawthorne strainer on the tin. Hold the fine strainer with the other hand above the glass and pour from the shaker through the fine mesh strainer. Now the Hawthorne strainer keeps the ice inside the tin, while the fine strainer removes all the small, broken off ice from shaking. This is called 'double straining' and 'fine straining' in technical terms.
- Drink!
ON A PERSONAL SIDE NOTE:
Lets address the things changed from the original recipe. First, the orange liquor. In the original recipe Cointreau is used, but you can just as easily use Dry Orange Curaçao. I personally really like the Pierre Ferrand one.
This version I've put Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano on, but the original uses Tempus Fugit's Kina L'Aéro d'Or – a fancy name for a mildly bitter liqueur with some orange-y and spice notes to it. It's a liqueur with quinquina (also known as kina) in. Now if you neither have the Tempus Fugit Kina liqueur, Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano, you can use a white vermouth. Just make sure it's not too sweet as it can fuck with the flavour balance.
The original does not have any garnish either, but if you wanna do a little something-something, do an orange peel. It goes very well with the flavour profile of the drink. As always keep some centimetres distance between the glass and peel, when you spray the oils onto it.
An absinthe rinse is not an uncommon technique that'll add or enhance the herbal component. It doesn't really add anything ABV wise to the cocktail, if you're nervous about that. I know some people react stronger to absinthe than others, but this amount will only impact the flavour. It'll give a herbal and anise-y note to the drink. If you don't want to pour the little amount in for the rinse, a good cheat is having a small, plastic perfume bottle with absinthe in. Spray it in the glass and viola! I like using an absinthe bitter for rinses as well.
Now in case you're wondering about the in-and-out-of-the-fridge thing with the glass, it's a fairly simple answer: we wanna keep your drink cool as long as possible. Since there's no ice in the finished cocktail, it's gonna need all the help it can get to stay cold while you're drinking it. A cool 'container' will help – which in this case is a cold glass. A freezer will cool it down faster and keep the glass colder longer. A lot of people like to look at the glassware defrost as the bartender makes the drink, so easy 'entertainment points' can also be won here if you have guests over.
As mentioned earlier, I fell in love with drink first time I made it and I still order it from time to time, when I'm in the mood for a good 'pick me up' kinda drink. I can testify personally that it will do wonders, if you're feeling a little slouchy from the night before. Therefore it only seems fitting to use Harry Craddock's own the words about the CORPSE REVIVER NO.2 to end this week: “Four of these taken in a swift succession will un-revive the corpse again.”
Holy shit, look at that, there is more this week! Yes, I was doom scrolling on a hangover and so you are getting a few hot shots from that. Might as well.