Step By Step: Make The Refreshing 'Shrinebuilder' Cocktail
By Paul Leddy in Food on Apr 26, 2013 7:00PM
The finished Shrinebuilder.
First, make the verdita: take a bunch of mint, a bunch of cilantro, 2 jalapeños (Whistler uses jalapeño and habañero), and 1-46oz can of pineapple juice.
Rough chop the herbs. Basically, we want to remove as much of the leaves from the stems.
Add all the ingredients to a blender.
Blend on high until well incorporated. Depending on the size of your blender, you may want to this in batches.
Double strain the contents from the blender. You can use, as I did, two strainers, or line a strainer with cheese-cloth. Or, for the extremely patient, a coffee filter.
Strain the mixture again into a storage bottle/container.
The finished verdita. Isn\'t she beautiful?
Now that the verdita is done, it\'s time to make the cocktail.
The cocktail starts with .75oz of freshly squeezed lime juice.
Next, add 1oz of the verdita.
Next, add .50oz of Velvet Falernum which is an alcoholic syrup that has flavors of clove, almond, ginger, and lime. There are some homemade recipes out there, but John D. Taylor is what The Whistler uses.
Lastly, add 2oz of Green Chartreuse. It\'s expensive, but it can last a long time.
Add \"pellet\" or crushed ice to a collins glass. The Whistler uses a hurricane glass, but a collins glass will work just fine. You can get a bag of pellet ice from any Sonic restaurant for under $2.
Swizzling is a method where you agitate the ice by moving a special swizzle stick between your palms. Eric Henry uses a small whisk or you can use a spoon as well. Swizzle until the outside of the glass starts to frost.
Top with more ice, add a straw and a garnish of a few springs of mint.
The great thing about making cocktails at home, unlike trying to make restaurant dishes at home, is that most of us have access to the same equipment and liquors that bartenders use. Food recipes that come from chefs can be difficult to replicate because the ingredients can be obscure or of a higher quality than what you would find in a regular store. Also, restaurant equipment can reach temperatures that most home cooking equipment won’t come close to.
What a chef does with heat, a bartender does with ice and a few ingredients. Anyone can buy a bottle of liquor, but there are some special mixtures and combinations that can be a bit daunting for the home mixer. Once you learn how to make them, though, you'll be making cocktails just like the pros.
A couple weeks ago, we showed Eric Henry from The Whistler making The Shrinebuilder in our “Behind the Stick” series. The cocktail touches all the senses: it’s spicy, herbaceous, and, most importantly, refreshing.
At the heart of the cocktail is a concoction called verdita. Basically, verdita is a combination of mint, cilantro, peppers and pineapple juice. If you are looking for another use for the verdita, a popular use in Mexico is doing a shot of verdita before a shot of tequila. You will never go back to lime and salt again. Once made, the verdita can last 7-10 days.
We thought we would show the steps to making this incredible cocktail at home. It really is quite simple and will definitely be a hit at your next party.
