Photo: LeNell Smothers
Several years ago for my birthday, Miss Flighty Alberta Straub combined both her jamaica and her famous "Spa Mix" with other delicious ingredients in what she calls her Playboy Bourbon Cooler.
When she first sent me the instructions to prepare this drink for my birthday party, I was so nervous about getting every detail perfect. I was a bit intimidated about finally meeting this famous bar personality who had made plans to come to my former shop LeNell's in Brooklyn to host not only my birthday, but the store's anniversary.
As we assembled all the ingredients in some of my beautiful antique punch bowls and got to know each other better, I realized there was no need for the fear of not getting it all "perfect." It's not always about having an exact recipe, but understanding flavor and pleasing guests. Important lesson, indeed.
I liken Alberta to some of my favorite down-home family cooks, like my beloved grandmothers who just had a knack for putting flavors together without measuring anything. Like my grandmothers, she's an ace at simply tasting and making it all work splendidly.
Alberta knows how to use a jigger and measuring cups, but her genius is best let loose to put flavors together fearlessly without feeling iron clad bound to a specific recipe. Her presence at the party reminded me to not be so uptight and worried about exact measurements and specific ingredients, to let my creativity flow, and to have fun with my drink-making.
The Playboy Bourbon Cooler was inspired by a 1968 Playboy magazine article instructing readers how to drink all day. The cocktail that inspired Alberta was the 2 p.m. drink. Her version is an amazingly complex combination of hibiscus, cucumber, spices, whiskey, and ginger beer. While there is a recipe for it, the beauty of it is that you can play around and jazz it up by making variations on some of the ingredients. For example, adding syrups flavored with bitter citrus peel or ginger instead of regular simple syrup to sweeten the jamaica or soupin' up my Spa Mix with fresh mint.
Playboy Bourbon Cooler Party Punch
Note: syrup, jamaica and Spa Mix best prepared the night before
2 cups bourbon
1 1/2 cups sweet vermouth (Punt y Mes if you can get it)
2 tablespoons Angostura Bitters
1 1/2 cups fresh lime
3 cups jamaica
1 cup apple juice (unfiltered)
3 to 3 1/2 cups ginger cardamom syrup to taste (see recipe below)
5 cups "Spa Mix"
4 12-ounce bottles of spicy Jamaican ginger beer
Place all ingredients in a large punch or other bowl. Slice an orange -- preferably blood orange in thin wheels -- and float on top with the cucumber and herbs from the spa mix. Stir.
Chill with large block or wheel of ice or put punch bowl into larger bowl filled with ice to prevent over dilution.
Ginger Cardamon Syrup
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 pound peeled sliced ginger
1/2 cup cardamom pods
2 to 3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
Put the ginger and cardamom and cinnamon sticks in a pan of simmering water. Reduce heat slightly, and let cook for 15 minutes. Put heat on very low and add sugar stirring constantly till it is completely dissolved. Cook on very low heat for 30 to 40 minutes making sure the mixture does not burn. Strain and cool.
Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the head mixtress at Casa Cóctel. She's owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.
