egg nog

2 oz Heavy Cream
2 oz Whole Milk
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 Egg Yolk

Shake once without ice and once with ice (~6 Kold Draft cubes). Pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and a whole star anise (previously have done grated trio of nutmeg, coffee bean, and clove), and add a straw.

Back in December, there was a thread on Chowhound about where to purchase high quality egg nog in town. Most people agreed that egg nog without alcohol will not last too long without loading it up with chemical preservatives and how pasteurization would change the texture of it greatly. I ended up suggesting that they make it themselves with this simple recipe that I make at work with a prep time of only a few minutes once all the ingredients are assembled. My ratios were learned from classic (boozy) recipes like George Washington's Egg Nog, and I have modified this nonboozy version to a boozy one rather easily and with great success. Overall, this à la minute egg nog tastes so good and fresh while being chemical free (assuming that they are not in your syrups) all with very little effort!
The garnishes on the egg nog contribute greatly to aroma with nutmeg and anise pleasantly filling the bouquet here. A rich, creamy sip gave way to a smooth vanilla and cinnamon swallow. While I often have made this recipe for hosts and servers during slow points at work, I have made it for myself when I did not have time for breakfast that morning. Quite satisfying regardless of the hour or whether it is virgin or not!

pineapple ramos

3 oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Heavy Cream
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a Collins glass with 2-3 oz soda water. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and add a straw.
Today before 2pm at work, it was a rather slow day and I had drank a lot of coffee. Too much coffee. To keep busy besides cleaning and prep work, I decided to make a mocktail for Kelsey, our host today upstairs at Russell House Tavern. I do not have specific tasting notes for this drink since I was presenting it (instead of making it for myself). However, it follows my general recipe for a Ramos Gin Fizz at work with a few modifications. My standard Ramos Gin Fizz has 2 oz of gin and here I substituted 3 oz of pineapple juice; moreover, I upped the heavy cream from 1 1/2 oz to 2 oz here. While many times the classic is made with just simple syrup, I have seen and made recipes that include vanilla extract (such as the link above); therefore, I split the sweetener two parts simple syrup to one part vanilla syrup. I also left out the 4 drops of orange blossom water I often add in the gin version. Instead of an orange twist garnish, I selected a pineapple wedge that I had prepped for my Mytoi Gardens menu item. Kelsey had no complaints and declared that the balance was right as was the level of vanilla notes in the mix. The presentation also garnered a good deal of oohs and ahs.