ROOT Cocktail Competition

My latest post on uwishunu... and I'll be in attendance. You should be too!

Root beer isn’t just for little kids and ice cream floats. ROOT is the new liqueur transforming the classic soft drink into something more adult-appropriate. Based on the (alcoholic) recipe from which root beer originated, ROOT blends smoked black tea, sundry spices and citrus peels to recreate the beverage how our forefathers drank it. ROOT has its “roots” in Philly; it’s brought to us by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I tried it in May and can attest: this stuff is delicious.

You can check it out at the ROOT Cocktail Competition on July 28th at the Silk City Beer Garden. Bartenders from Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co., Snackbar, North 3rd, and other local bars will be creating cocktails featuring ROOT. Judges are local writers and alcohol professionals: George Costa (Southwark), Arthur Etchells (Foobooz), Marnie Old (sommelier) and Victor Fiorillo (Philadelphia Magazine).

Guests enjoy free hors d’oeurves and $5 Root cocktails. Admission is free but RSVP to info@artintheage.com.

What would you make with ROOT?

ROOT Cocktail CompetitionTuesday, July 28th, 7-9pm
Silk City Beer Garden (Rain location: inside Silk City)435 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA

Updated: Katie Loeb's concoction Dr. Hadley's Root Restorative took top prize.

.5 oz. Demerara simple syrup

6 large mint leaves

1.25 oz. Lairds Bonded (100 proof) Applejack

1.0 oz. ROOT Liqueur

.5 oz. Benedictine

.5 oz. fresh lime juice

2 dashes Fee Brother's Aztec Chocolate bitters

2 dashes Angostura bitters
Garnish: a Mint sprig

Muddle mint in simple syrup. Add ice and other ingredients. Shake vigorously and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with a spanked mint sprig.

The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company

Behind a black, unmarked basement door on 18th street is the newest spot for cocktails in Philly. The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company opened last month with an excited hush. Rumors abounded, many of them proving to be true.

The place was so exclusive that a password was required for entry. (Not true)

Drinks are pricey, but deservedly so. (True and true)

Signage would be nonexistent. (True)

Inspired by the speakeasies of yore, Franklin Mortgage does not boast its presence. Once Daniel and I found the place, a dimly lit, narrow alley of a space greeted us. The burgundy booths, dark walls and sparse lighting made me pine for a gun in my garter belt.

Nicholas Jarret (whole mixology I last enjoyed at the Root liqueur tasting) tended bar. We took our seats and our hostess brought each of us the menu, a multi-page tome divided into categories like American History and Revivers and Tonics.

I was decidedly overwhelmed, with many of the ingredients foreign to me, but I spotted something that recalled a French 75, the Doc Daneeka Royale: gin, fresh lemon juice, maple, grapefruit peel, and sparkling wine. It was light and clean, with bright citrus at the front and the warm maple flavor hitting you at the back. It was my favorite overall by the end of the evening. Daniel's Hoff's Law Cocktail, a mix of rye, elderflower liqueur and sweet vermouth, put hair on my chest (and tongue).

The devil is in the details at Franklin Mortgage. The glassware is unique and matched to its particular cocktail. Three types of ice are served and also paired with the appropriate drink.

Luckily, Aaron joined us a little later on, which meant more cocktails for sampling and comparing. Overall, we tried six different drinks. (See details and pics below)

Food is not served which was disappointing, particularly since the drinks are strong and I would have liked something with which to soak them up. So after shelling $12 per cocktail, we made an economical and delicious next stop: Five Guys for burgers and fries.

I will definitely be returning, though likely later in the evening and donning a Fedora. It's just that kinda place.

Some of our beverage choices for the evening...

Center City Swizzle: rye whiskey, amontillado sherry, ginger, lemon juice, velvet falernum, angostura bitters. Very gingery, which I liked, but Aaron thought it overpowered the other flavors.

Diamondback: rye whiskey, apple brandy, yellow chartreuse. Daniel's second choice, another hair maker. As I recall (confirm please, Daniel), this was his favorite of the two.

Pass and Stow Punch: aged Bermudan and Jamaican rums, pineapple and lime juice, marschino cherry liqueur, seltzer, grated nutmeg. A nice, evenly balanced punch. My second cocktail. I also love nutmeg so I liked the inclusion.

Simo Cup: gin, Pimms No. 1, fresh lemon juice, cucumber, and strawberry. Another sweet summer drink. Aaron could have used more bite but it totally hit the spot for me. I definitely don't think of myself as a girlie drink person but apparently I do like cocktails that go down a bit easier.

Root Liqueur: Update

Word is that Root by Art in the Age will be available in Pennsylvania state stores on Monday, June 15. If you want to ensure getting your hands on a bottle now, go to Hi Time Wine, where the old-school root tea is on sale for $38.99 a bottle. Yes, it's pricier than your standard bottle of Gordon's, but it is unlike anything you've ever had before...

A Cocktail Party with a Twist

Sydnor and Bill are getting married in July and moving to Philadelphia soon after. When planning the engagement party, friends Lisa and Daniel wanted to do something that would both celebrate the coming marriage and relocation.

The solution: a cocktail party with a twist, all gifts had to be about cocktails, thereby stocking up Bill and Sydnor's bar at their new home.

Naturally, cocktails were at the center of the party. The makings for gin gimlets and rye and gingers lined Daniel's counter top. Homemade lavender shortbread, chocolate cake, cheese, hummus and bread provided sustenance to counter the cocktails.













Gifts included bottles of St. Germain and gin, the most versatile corkscrew I've ever seen, and lemon bitters. Daniel gave all the makings for a quality Sazerac, from the absinthe to the Sazerac rye whiskey to the Peychaud's bitters to the highball glasses. With the permission of the guests-of-honor, we opened the St. Germain and toasted the event with St. Germain and champagne.

Lisa also asked Sydnor and Bill's friends to send Lisa a recipe for their favorite cocktail. Recipes for drinks like Sazerac, French 75, and the Arnold Palmer Firefly were lovingly handwritten by Lisa in a tiny notebook and presented to the bride and groom-to-be at the party.

And it didn't go unnoticed that this is the gift that gives back; now we can all look forward to well-stocked cocktail parties at Bill and Syd's new apartment in Philly!

Sazerac
From Daniel & Aaron for Bill & Sydnor

Ingredients
Ice cubes
1 sugar cube or teaspoon sugar
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1 teaspoon water
1/4 cup rye whiskey
2 teaspoons absinthe
1 lemon peel twist

Preparation
Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice, set aside. Place sugar cube in another old-fashioned glass. Pour bitters, followed by water, over the sugar cube. Muddle with spoon until sugar dissolves. Add ice to fill glass, add whiskey. Let stand, stirring often, about a minute. Discard ice from first glass, add absinthe. Swirl to coat inside of glass, then pour out absinthe. Strain whiskey mixture into glass. Twist lemon peel over cocktail (releases lemon oil in the drink) and run along lip of glass. Discard lemon.

The Root of the Matter

E at Foodaphilia and The Sugar has been something of a food blog mentor to me. She started following kitchenplay earlier this year and introduced me to the Philly food blog community. She helped me get set up on Food Buzz and has offered lots of great comments on kitchenplay posts. Plus, I try to score as many baking tips from her as I can!

Not surprisingly, when she posted on Facebook that she was seeking company for a new liquor tasting, I jumped at the chance. It was for something called Root. A cursory online search informed me that it was a "new American spirit," produced by the folks at Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, brown and in a beautiful bottle. Other than that, I didn't know what to expect.

Here's the skinny. It's root beer, but alcoholic. In other words, it's genius.

Root takes as its starting point the original recipe for root beer, when it was known as (the alcoholic) root tea. Back in the day, Native Americans taught the recipe to settlers. It was particularly popular in Pennsylvania as the necessary ingredients were readily available. During the Temperance Movement, a pharmacist in Philly removed the alcohol and created the root beer with which we are familiar today. We can thank the creators of Hendrick's Gin for taking root beer back to its, ahem, roots.

Nicholas Jarrett tended bar at the tasting, mixing cocktails with the old-fashioned flair and attention to detail one expects from an Apothocary bartender. As interesting as the cocktail combinations were, my favorite incarnation was basic: straight, on the rocks, in a snifter. Coming in at a close second was the Root and Birch, simply Root with birch beer on ice.

I love a few things about Root. 80 proof with birch bark, orange, spearmint, and ten other flavors, Root is sweet, smokey, herbal and delicious. It also encapsulates two things I adore about Philadelphia: our colonial history and the DIY spirit that runs through our city, the art scene in particular.

In addition to being a delicious liqueur, E and I were abuzz over the baking/cooking possibilities... a sauce for ice cream, pies, truffles... the idea of truffles intrigued one of the Art in the Agers behind Root. While nothing is for certain yet, there just may be limited edition Root truffles sold at Art in the Age produced by E and kitchenplay. Stay tuned...

Root hits state liquor stores and select bars this June. In the meantime, check out one of Mr. Jarrett's recipes below and start thinking about all the delicious things you'll try with Root.

Forbidden Root
by Nicholas Jarret for the Private Tasting of Root

3/4 oz. Root
3/4 oz. TRU vodka
1 oz. freshly squeezed white grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
dash of Angostura

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass

Check out E's companion post on Root at www.foodaphilia.com.

Texas Musings

Life is starting to get busy busy down here in Texas. Rehearsals for La Cenerentola with Fort Worth Opera have been going well and Dead Man Walking rehearsals start on Friday, meaning this little ol' assistant director will soon be pulling double duty. That said, I still have some lofty eating goals.

Texas Monthly is a treasure trove of good food information. I learned of the publication when its journalists were nominated last month for a James Beard Award for its thorough research on the best barbecue in Texas.

The number one spot for BBQ in Texas? Snow's BBQ in Lexington. It's one of those places that's only open one day a week, Saturday, and is only open till the meat runs out, typically around 12:30. These are some of my favorite places to eat, where the point of cooking isn't about turning around a fast dollar; it's about the food. And Snow's is a two 1/2 hour drive from Ft. Worth, just past Waco.

Roadtrip, anyone?

More locally, Texas Monthly also pointed me in the direction of some good eats in Fort Worth, specific dishes that are delicious and under $10. It's a good representation of the diversity of food you'll find around here:

• Thai Tina's Chicken in Peanut Sauce
• Esperanza's Cafe's Caldo de Pollo
• The Fried Pork Chop Plate at Drew's Place
  

Since arriving last week, I've done a bit of good eating: beef brisket enchiladas with a side of queso at La Playa Maya, a delicious Italian meal at La Piazza during a FWO donor dinner and multiple margaritas at Blue Mesa.

Now when most people think of hard liquor in Texas, the first thought is typically tequila. But apparently this state has a lot of good vodka flowing. I am more of a gin drinker, but the 20+ times that Dripping Springs distills its vodka intrigues me. Apparently, the distillery (outside of Austin) burned down recently, meaning its been even harder to find in liquor stores than usual. I'll see what I can make happen...

The other big name in Texas vodka is Tito's Handmade Vodka, also from Austin. It's distilled six times and comes in big plastic jugs for next to nothing.

Texas just might make a vodka tonic woman out of me.

I know it's the start of beer week, but...

Martinis are yummy too! And apparently, recession friendly!

Cupcakes and Cocktails, Part 2

Last week, Gabe had another, less formal, cocktail party. The association of cupcakes with cocktails has now been thoroughly solidified in my head. As such, I decided to make another batch for the party.

For some reason, I had molasses on the brain. So I searched epicurious for a molasses icing recipe. They had one paired with a carrot cupcake. I'm generally not a huge carrot cake fan (more of a chocolate woman on all dessert fronts), but the idea of carrots and molasses sounded really good.

Looking at the recipe though, I felt it needed two things: fresh ginger and some kind of garnish. I ended up putting the two together, by cooking up sliced carrots in sugar and ginger as a garnish.

Carrot Cupcakes with Molasses Cream Cheese Icing from epicurious.com

For cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (I upped this to two tsps.)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I switched this out for two tsps. of ground ginger)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups finely shredded carrots (about 4)
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped fine, toasted lightly, and cooled
(1 tablespoon of fresh ginger)
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted lightly and cooled

For icing
1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. and line twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In another bowl whisk together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and with a wooden spoon beat in flour mixture until combined well. Add carrots, walnuts, and coconut, (AND fresh ginger!) stirring until just combined. Fill muffin tins two thirds full with batter (there will be enough batter remaining to make 4 more cupcakes) and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto a rack and cool completely. Muffin tins may be used again immediately for second cupcake batch. Cupcakes may be made 2 days ahead and kept in airtight containers. (from kp: I actually yielded 20 cupcakes total.)

Make icing: In a bowl beat together icing ingredients until fluffy.

Icing may be made 2 days ahead and chilled in an airtight container. Soften icing at room temperature to spreading consistency. Spread icing on cupcakes.

from kp: Garnish with gingered carrots.

Gingered Carrots from kitchenplay

Using a vegetable peeler, slice off slivers from one carrot into a saucepan of water, sugar and fresh ginger. (I used maybe 2 cups water, half a cup of sugar and a good tsp. or so of ginger.)

On medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes. The idea is to get the carrots to a point where they are soft and pliable, not fully caramelized from the sugars.

Cocktail pairing: a Sidecar, perhaps? Brandy, cointreau, lemon juice.

Cupcakes and Cocktails Part 1

Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

My friend Gabe is a mixologist... a scientist of sorts, but his beakers are martini glasses and his chemical solutions are tasty liquors. He hosts regular martini parties at his home and his selection of alcohol is impressive. The question is not, "Do you want a vodka or gin martini?" Rather, he asks, "What type of gin do you prefer? Hendricks, Tanqueray, Bluecoat, organic, etc..." Not to mention the myriad specialty liqueurs he keeps on hand: creme de violette, ginger, the list continues.

And he makes his own maraschino cherries.

So for his last official cocktail party, I decided I would bring along something to show my gratitude for his amazing hospitality. I had just found the now defunct blog, Cupcake Bakeshop. While Chockylit is no longer posting new recipes, she has kept her archives online. It was there that I found a recipe for Old Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes and another one for Salted Caramel Frosting.

Salted caramel is the new balsamic vinegar. Once seen as an exotic culinary item, it can now be found amidst the offerings at Wal-Mart or Starbucks, firmly grounded in mainstream consumption (or so says the New York Times.).

Salt added to most things, and certainly sweet things, adds an extra dimension of flavor. When added well, it doesn't just add saltyness, but can bring out some of the essential aspects of the dish. One of these days I will learn just how it manages to accomplish that. In the meantime, I'm just going to eat a lot of it.

Thanks Eleanor for being such a great photographer!

Mixing the cream with the hot sugar to make
caramel

Modeling my cupcake apron

Salted caramel pre-frosting

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes from cupcakeblog.com

24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cocoa powdered

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (from kp: I omitted this)

1-1/2 cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.

3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.

4. Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring thing.

5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.

6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4’s full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Salted Caramel from cupcakeblog.com
from kp: The frosting recipe calls for one cup of caramel. I actually had to make two batches of the caramel to get that amount.

4 tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt, kosher or sea

1. Combine the water, sugar, and the corn syrup in a deep saucepan and cook over medium heat.

2. Stir together with a wooden spoon until the sugar is incorporated.

3. Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.

4. After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.

5. Do not stir from this point on, but it is important to carefully shake the pan so that one area of the caramel doesn’t burn.

6. Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.

7. *** This is the dangerous part *** Pour the heavy cream into the mixture. Wear oven mitts, stand away from the pan, and be careful. The mixture will bubble up significantly.

8. Stir the mixture, again being careful. Add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.

9. Measure 1 cup into a Pyrex measuring cup. Stirring occasionally, allow to cool until thick like molasses and warm to the touch, about 20 minutes.

Note: There was a small bit of extra caramel that I poured onto a small plate that I covered in aluminum foil and greased with vegetable oil. I transferred the plate to the freezer for about 30 minutes. I chopped the caramel quickly into squares (its starts to get soft) and topped each cupcake with a square.

Salted Caramel Frosting from cupcakeblog.com
from kp: I only used 2 cups of powdered sugar. That changed the consistency, I'm sure, but it was definitely sweet enough. I think 5-6 cups would be serious overkill.

2 sticks butter

8 ounces or 1 package of Philly cream cheese

5 to 6 cups powdered sugar

1 cup salted caramel

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.

3. Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.

4. Add 1 cup of the salted caramel and beat to combine.

5. Sift 2-3 cups of powder sugar, in 1 cup increments and beating between each, until you arrive at the thickness and sweetness you desire. I used 6 cups. The frosting wasn’t super thick, but it was starting to get pretty sweet.

Assembly

1. Frost cooled cupcakes with a generous amount of frosting.

2. Sprinkle each cupcake with sea or kosher salt. I ground some rock sea salt onto each.

3. Top with a caramel candy, homemade or otherwise.

from kp: I saved some of the caramel and put it in the freezer to harden, per Chockylit's suggestion. It didn't get quite hard enough, but I was able to decorate the cupcakes with a small spoonful of the soft caramel.

And as a pairing with this cupcake, might I suggest the following cocktail: Aviation.

gin, crème de violette, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice
garnished with a maraschino cherry and lemon rind

Crush of the Month: Rachel Maddow

What can't Rachel Maddow do?

Rhodes Scholar, AIDS activist, Air America show host, MSNBC superstar show host... smart, funny, attractive and just plain adorable... AND she loves making classic cocktails!

How can I get her to a SPEC meeting??? Preferably as my date...???

Last week, NY Magazine taped Maddow showing off her mad(dow) skillz* while making a Jack Rose cocktail. Jack Rose is a mix of Apple Jack Brandy or Calvados, grenadine and lime juice. She talks about shaking it till "it's too cold to hold" while wearing those adorugly glasses... swoon!!!

Enjoy the link above.

* yeah, yeah, bad pun, I know...

Chapter 3: Making SPEC Proud

As some of you may recall, I belong to a cocktail club back home, SPEC. At one of our "meetings," we had Sazeracs, a New Orleans classic. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan, but was set on having one in its native home.

As luck would have it, Andy Vaught has a friend who bartends at Luke. Luke was a runner-up in the NYT article on important new U.S. restaurants. And our new friend Blake promised us a Sazerac worth remembering.

An absinthe coated glass. Sazerac rye whiskey. Peychaud bitters. A spritz from lemon zest. A curled lemon rind. I drank it fast, not because I wanted to finish it, but because it was one of the smoothest, tastiest cocktails I've ever had.

Then I revealed to Blake my favorite cocktail in the world. The French 75. Instead of gin, he mixes champagne with brandy, adding a brandied cherry that beautifully sinks to the bottom of the glass. It was a bit heavier than the gin-based version, though very good.

And of course, Daniel and I had to have mint juleps while we were down south. And the place to do it was Columns, a beautiful old hotel with a grand front porch, known as the setting for the Brooke Shields film, Pretty Baby.

The setting was lovely, as we watched the streetcar travel up and down St. Charles. And maybe we were just spoiled after our cocktail extravaganza at Luke, but the mint juleps were a bit light, almost watered down. I drank this one quickly as well... only because I wanted to move on to our final meal in town... crawfish mountain at Frankie and Johnny's.

P.S.

SPEC was profiled in Philadelphia Weekly's Lush Life column a few weeks ago. The author, Mara Zapeda, learned about the club from kitchenplay.

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/16839/food--lush-life

Cocktail Hour!

Last night was the second meeting of SPEC- the Society for the Promotion of Extraordinary Cocktails, hosted by my lovely friends Ru, Sarah, and Shonni. SPEC appeals to the dorky lush in me, as each meeting* focuses on three vintage cocktails. So while getting tipsy, you are also getting a historical perspective into the world of libations. (It's also a great excuse for drinking it up in cute outfits!)

Photo from SPEC Meeting 1

The menu included an amuse bouche of mulled cider, the Clover Club, and Sazerac Cocktail. Both the Clover Club and Sazerac used Peychaud's bitters, which Sarah had to order from New Orleans as they are not readily found in our area. The Sazerac was a bit too strong for me, but the Clover Club was fun and fruity, with the good aspects of a Cosmopolitan but lacking the Sex in the City overtones.

The Clover Club turns out to be a home-grown phenomenon, created by The Clover Club of Philadelphia in the early 20th century. My only other experience with the drink, however, was in Michigan, at Zingerman's Roadhouse. Zingerman's specializes in classic cocktails (SPEC fieldtrip, anyone?) and their CC was pretty amazing. Though I can't imagine anything with gin and fresh raspberries leading me astray. It is also commonly frothed with egg white!

Speaking of cocktails, this week I finally dug into my homemade Christmas cordial, a kumquat clementine liqueur. Inspired by this NYT article -http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E4DE1F3DF931A25751C1A9619C8B63&scp=8&sq=cordial&st=nyt - I made three batches of cordial- two were Christmas gifts and one was for me. Aside from looking beautiful, with slivers of kumquats and clementine floating in a mason jar, the gin based liqueur tastes amazing. I've been drinking it on the rocks with a generous portion of seltzer. The citrus and clove combination is an immediate reminder of the holidays. It's sweet but not syrupy.

Below is my slight adaptation of the NYT recipe. My main change was in the spices used, since I didn't have certain ones that the recipe called for, while I thought others would also work well. Also, mine did sit for about 5 weeks.

Kumquat-Clementine Cordial

adapted from "Haste Makes Cordial" by Melissa Clark, New York Times, December 12, 2007
Time: 10 minutes, plus one week's macerating**

1/4 cup sugar, preferably superfine
3 tablespoons clementine juice (from 1 or 2 clementines) plus 1 clementine, thinly sliced
6 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeded
1 3/4 cups gin (375 milliliters)
3 peppercorns
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods

1. Have a glass bottle with a cork or a jar with a lid ready. Place sugar in a large glass measuring cup or bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon boiling water for 1 minute. Add clementine juice, and continue stirring until sugar dissolves, about a minute longer.
2. If using a jar, place clementine and kumquat slices inside. If using a bottle, you might have to curl slices into cylinders to fit them through neck. Add sugar syrup and remaining ingredients; break star anise in half if necessary to fit into bottle. Close jar lid or cork bottle; keep at room temperature. Shake once a day for one week before serving.

From kp: If keeping it for longer than one week, I would remove the majority of the spices after one week. Personally, I think the clove and cardamom flavors would get too strong.
3. Serve as is or over ice, or with a splash of seltzer, or topped with chilled white wine or sparkling wine, or as a hot toddy topped with boiling water. Or drizzle over ice cream.

Yield: About 2 cups.


*party

** isn't that a great word?