MxMo LXVII: Garnish Grandiloquence Roundup
Hello everyone. It's MxMo roundup time, and I decided to be original and totally use the same format as Fred and Pantagruel. This month's theme was, as you will recall, "Garnish Grandiloquence":
I’m always shocked by the way that an orange peel or a lemon peel can transform the experience of drinking a mixed drink from something mundane to something magical. In a similar vein, eating the olive in a martini will totally transform the imbiber’s perception of the drink. So this Mixology Monday, let’s really make a study of art of the garnish, by mixing up drinks where the garnish plays a central role in the experience of the drink. Of course, you don’t have to make a latticework out of orange peels, a pirate ship out of citrus, or a ferris wheel out of pineapple and squash, but it sure would warm my heart. This type of garnish is traditionally in the realm of tiki, but you could mix anything, so long as the garnish is the star of the show.
Sorry the formatting was a little weird. I have very wide columns on my blog, so it made it kind of tricky.
Fred From cocktail virgin slut went for the pyrotechnics, and made the Vellocet from Beta Cocktails, which is a pineapple and green chartreuse swizzle garnished with a pour of flaming green chartreuse over mint. It looks like an angry tiki god. 
The Liquid Culture Project made the Mai Tai-inspired Temperate Zone Cocktail, with white and aged whiskey, sweet vermouth, walnut orgeat, and spiced cranberry syrup. He garnished it with an elegeant ensemble of cranberries, rosemary, and lemon peel. Scrumptious. 
Scott from Shake, Strain & Sip made a trio of garnish-centric drinks; the Quixote's Demise with mezcal, sherry, Pisco, and a flamed orange peel; the Benson Streetcar with fig-infused Cognac and a cinnamon sugar rim; and the Kentucky Coffee with a vanilla + allspice whipped cream (pictured). I've been wanting to make some spiced whipped cream like this for a while, so it's great to see it in action. 
Mark Sexuaer whipped out his exacto knife and made an "MxMo" stencil, and then used it to graffiti some mezcal foam with the MxMo logo, Banksy style. It's all sitting on top of a tequila negroni variant that he calls the Humo Flotador. He also drops some knowledge on us about using gelatin to stabilize your foam. Every day, there's a new technique to learn. 
Shaun and Christa from Booze Nerds doubled down on the tropical fruit with a Benedictine and Rhum Agricole tiki drink that they call the Monk's Paradise. I shall drink it piously, at the beach. 
JFL decided to explore Tiki theatrics as well, and he served up a flaming drink called Geaux Nuts, a smoking drink called Cosmos Castaway, and a drink served in a whole pineapple called Boo Loo (pictured). Capital stuff. 
Elana from Stir and Strain went MC Escher on us with the Apple Stack, a very seasonal drink with hard apple cider, applejack, and allspice dram. It's a gorgeous presentation, so be sure to check out her other variations. 
Mark Holmes from Cardiff Cocktails made us a cup of Roman Punch with rum, brandy, curacao, raspberry syrup, and lemon juice. He then garnished it with an entire fruit salad, according to a recipe from David Wondrich's Punch! I wish I could find a bar that serves this. 
Raffaele Bellomi garnished a peppered Ramos Gin Fizz with a giant shrimp, cooked in Campari reduction, and called it "From Ramos to Cracco". I, uh, I think I love you a little bit. 
The 3 Archers made a beautiful Martini d’Eté with some edible flowers. The clear drink with the brightly colored flowers are very striking. To tie it all together, they used Hendrick's, a gin with a lot of floral notes from roses. The aroma from the flower sounds great with a martini. 
Our friends at Putney Farm served the McCovey Cove in a hollowed-out orange, and carved the logo of the San Francisco Giants onto the front. Then they served some delicious-looking bacony mashed potatoes in a cocktail glass. It's a topsy-turvy world. 
Zak and John from the Pocket Square also took the citrus-as-vessel route, and made Clementine Shooters with gin, clementine juice, pear liqueur, and pomegranate-clementine sorbet, garnished with cilantro. I am running out of quips, but I think the cilantro in this sounds very intriguing. 
Ginhound made a Lavender Rum and Tonic with homemade tonic and three different citrus slices. Simple, yet festive. Great color. 
Muse of Doom from Feu de Vie really took the garnish theme to heart, and made a garnish with no particular drink! She made an Art Deco Cranberry Ice Corn, which she artfully placed in a mixture of blueberry liqueur and brut champagne. 
Ceccotti from Bartending Notes used Aperol to make an stylish layered sugar "coral" around the rim of a fluted glass, and then made a riff on the John Collins called John Fancy Pants. I love the idea of the coffee mist. 
Jordan Devereaux from Chemistry of the Cocktail took a functional approach, focusing on the interplay between the aroma of the garnish and the flavor of the drink. Jordan made a Southern Thai Mehkong Swizzle using dark falernum and palm sugar. Mad props for forcing me to learn about a new spirit. 
Joel from Southern Ash made a Winter Apple Margarita, garnished with a baked candied apple and rimmed with turbinado sugar and ground ginger. Pretty and seasonal. 
And finally, I made a study in using cheese as a garnish, with a trio of drinks from our gastrophysics week. Pictured here is the Pineapple Under the Sea, a drink with gin, pineapple juice, kefir yoghurt and dry vermouth. We didn't get quite as big of a turnout as the last couple Mixology Mondays. I think it's my fault for choosing an inaccessible theme? Story of my life, really. But that's how it is with craft cocktails; quality over quantity. It's a great showing, and I'd like to express my thanks here for all of the bloggers who did participate. You made some beautiful drinks, and took some beautiful pictures. Until next month,Cheers.