Continuing with adding recipes for some of my favourite cocktails to The Book – today’s cocktail is called Homely Smoke. The term homely can have two meanings. It can mean a place that’s cosy and comfortable, like your own home. It can also mean an unattractive person. I’m going to say the cocktail is trying to evoke the first meaning, not the second.
As in “mmmm, this cocktail is warming and comforting, it makes this bar feel homely. Not “Urgh, that cocktail is unattractive.”
The name is also a bit of a giveaway that there’s a smoky element, in this case it’s a peated whiskey. This whole cocktail is gives an after dinner relaxation vibe. The sort of drink where the ideal setting is an old pub with an open fireplace and huge leather chairs. You know, somewhere homely.
This is a brandy based drink so start off by choosing a brandy you like. I’m using a cognac but don’t be browbeaten by the idea that cognacs are automatically better. If you have a local brandy you like, by all means use that. There’s also some amaretto in this which adds a nice dessert-y element that really fits in with the after dinner vibe. For the smoke element as I mentioned there’s also some peated whisky. There’s only a little so don’t be scared to go with a really robust smoky whisky.
Those are the main ingredients, now I’ll show you how to make it. In a mixing glass, add:
45 ml Cognac (brandy)
15 ml Amaretto Liqueur
7.5 ml Peated Single Malt Whisky
1 barspoon Honey syrup
1 dash Aromatic Bitters
Stir for 20-25 seconds to chill and dilute the drink, then I’m straining it into a chilled coupe.For a garnish, I’m using a twist of orange peel.
Even though the recommendation is to serve this drink “up”, it’s an Old Fashioned variation. There’s a split base with brandy and whisky and the main sweetener is Amaretto but at it’s core this is an old fashioned. I think the Amaretto makes a bigger difference than the split base – it’s a very different style of sweetness to most sugar syrups and give the cocktail some added richness.
As I was preparing this video, I couldn’t stop wondering what this would be like made with mezcal rather than peated whisky. So I went ahead and did it! I made a version where I swapped out the peated whisky for mezcal then went even further and made a third version where I also swapped out the cognac for anejo tequila.
While the three are (unsurprisingly) distinctly different, I had trouble picking a favourite. I had a slight preference for using mezcal over peated whisky in the base cocktail, it tasted “cleaner”. All three are great and I thoroughly recommend trying any or all of them.
Thinking of the agave based version, I even did some research on Spanish colloquialisms that would be closer to “homely” than “house”. Based on this research, and appropriate name for the cocktail when made with Mexican spirits would be Humo Hogareño (“Home Smoke) or Humo del Hogar (“Smoke of the Hearth”).
Having discovered that, I love “Smoke of the Hearth” as a cocktail name. I’ll have to do some experimenting with ingredients for that cocktail.
AngryAussie's Cocktail Bar 