DIY Ginger Beer

Back in May I wrote about how I made my own lime cordial for making gimlets. I mentioned how I found the recipe on the New York Times Magazine website, and while reading some of that author's archives, I came across his recipe for ginger beer. It can be found in his article entitled "Case Study: Cloudy with a Chance of Ginger."

Now, I have never been a huge ginger fan, though I do like ginger ale. The Dark & Stormy is always a popular summer drink, and having tried it with some store-bought ginger beer, I was not really impressed. However, I decided that maybe if I could make my own, I would like it better. So, I followed the author's recipe and gave it a shot.

It's really a pretty simple recipe. It involves grating ginger, juicing a couple of lemons, and making some simple syrup. All of these ingredients are combined, along with some yeast and filtered water, in a bottle, and put in a dark place to ferment. All of the amounts can be adjusted to your individual taste, so that it you'd like it a little sweeter or spicier, or a little less sweet or spicy, you can change it.

I originally had a bit of a problem in that it seems that the yeast didn't properly ferment the first time. After a couple of days I mixed up a little more yeast, this time letting in bloom in a bit of warm water before adding it to the bottle. It's important to keep an eye on the bottle for a few days in that the CO2 generated by the yeast will eventually cause the bottle to swell. If left unmonitored, it could burst, but this shouldn't be a huge problem.

After letting it ferment for a good 24 hours, I put it in the fridge to stop the fermentation process and, after straining it, moved it to a glass bottle. It ends up being slightly carbonated, which is nice. I mixed it with some dark rum, a squeeze of fresh lime, and the resulting drink was delicious. If you're a fan of ginger, or of Dark & Stormies, I'd highly recommend giving this one a shot.

DIY Lime Cordial

A couple of weeks ago I saw an article from the New York Times Magazine entitled Case Study: Building a Better Mixer. The article was about making homemade lime cordial.

If you're unfamiliar with lime cordial, chances are you'd be most likely to recognize Rose's, which has a unique neon green color that probably fends off the less adventurous. However, it is essentially de rigueur for making a gimlet. In the article, the author explained his inability in trying to find a higher quality lime cordial (i.e.- one not made from high fructose corn syrup) to try to replicate what a gimlet used to be like, back in the good ole days, presumably. After consulting several recipes and doing some experimenting, he finally came up with a recipe that he thought was best and wrote about it.

I'm a fan of gin and I'm a fan of gimlets, so I was intrigued by this premise. So, the week before last, on a Friday evening in which I had nothing to do, I went to the store, picked up some limes, a peeler, and a juicer, and set out to give it a whirl.

The recipe called for 18 limes, which, according to the author, would yield 2.5 cups of lime juice. Upon arriving at the store (Super H Mart, to be precise, where the limes were 10 for $1.00), the limes seemed a little small, so I decided to go with 25 limes. Per the recipe, I peeled and then juiced all 25 limes. I ended up with 4-2/3 cups of juice, just slightly more than the author had anticipated. I didn't view this as a problem, though, and added equal parts sugar, stirred until the sugar dissolved, then added the peels back and left in the refrigerator. The next day, I strained off the peels, poured into some bottles I picked up from World Market, and left it to sit in the refrigerator for another night to, according to the author, "cure" (I think this is inaccurate and would have probably been exactly the same if consumed that day). Here is a bottle of my finished product.

The next day, I added some gin and mixed up a gimlet. It is definitely tasty; certainly on the sweet side, but not cloyingly so, and adding the peels did add some bitterness to balance out the sweetness. On a warm day, I'm pretty sure these things might go down a little too easily, so be warned. It's also pretty versatile as this could probably be added, with triple sec, to some tequila to make quick margarita, or added to vodka to make a vodka gimlet. Even rum could be good.

If I make it again, I will probably go with slightly less sugar (maybe a 1:0.9 juice to sugar ratio, instead of 1:1). Oh, and I probably won't make two liters worth. All in all, it was a really simpleand cheap recipe, and one that could easily be made in an hour or so (not counting time in the fridge). If you like gimlets, I suggest giving this one a try.

Nantucket Red Jeans Update...sort of

Some of you may remember my post last October about the RL Rugby Faded Colored Denim and my thoughts on making my own pair of Nantucket Red jeans from a pair of plain white jeans. Well, I still haven't ever gotten around to that, but it looks like I may not have to.

Tonight I found myself on the Urban Outfitter website--not a place that I typically visit. In going through some of their stuff, I saw that they are selling Levi's 514s in orange "Sun Fade." These look really similar to the ones being offered by Rugby, and at $54, are literally half the price. For those who like a slimmer-fitting jean, the 514 is also a good cut.

DIY Barbour Reproofing: The Beaufort

Somewhat in conjunction with my post about sending my Bedale in to be repaired and reproofed at Green Mountain Reproofing, since my Beaufort was in better shape, just in need of a rewax, I decided to do it myself a couple of weeks ago.

Having performed this operation three or four times, I feel like I am getting a little better at it, but I'm definitely still not a pro. However, along with the photos, I'll provide some tips that may help you out if you decide to give it a try.

First, if you're going to do this outside, pick a warm day. I did this on a Sunday that had actually been fairly warm, but by the time I got around to getting everything set up, it had started cooling off and made things a bit more difficult. Before I started getting set up, I put a pot of water on the stove to start to boil. I then took a piece of scrap plywood that we had and covered it with a trashbag. This was actually worked great, and if you happen to be in possession of both of these objects, I highly recommend this set up. Once the warm came to a boil, I placed my can of Barbour Thornproof Dressing in the water to started to melt.

Once it has become oil-like, I used an old rolled-up crew sock and started to apply the wax. You've got to work fast, especially if it is cool outside, as the wax starts to solidify pretty quickly. I like to zip the jacket up and do the front first, trying to take care of all of the nooks and crannies before moving onto the arms.

The front is done

I then flip it over and do the back and that is the easiest part and the key there is really just coverage.

The back was clearly very "dry"

Nearly finished

Speaking of which, I was really pretty liberal in how much wax I was using. My goal was really to get about as much on as a I could and then worry about smoothing it out later. And on this note, I should also point out that you ought to make sure that you've got enough wax on-hand ahead of time. If you've got half of a can, it would probably be best to go ahead and pick up another can just in case you run out. But if you've got half of a can, you've done this before and probably already know this.

Finished; time to hang it up

After I finished up, I hung the jacket up to dry in a warm room for a day or two. Next, and most critically, I took a hair dryer and ran it all over the jacket, using my free hand to smooth out the wax. This is really an important step and it helps to really get the wax into the cotton, and helps to smooth of the wax so that it not only functions better, but also have a nice even-looking appearance. If you noticed some dry spots while using the hair dryer, either try to smooth them over with some wax that's already on the jacket, or dab a little bit on from the can and work it in with the hair dryer. After I finished this, I left it to hang for a couple more days.

In the end, it came out pretty good, if a bit "wet"-looking. I was rubbing wax off on stuff for a couple of days which did get kind of annoying, but after about a week or so, it has calmed down. Below is a picture of its current (glorious and water-resistant) state.

I hope this was a helpful post inspires you to give DIY reproofing a shot.

Ellie's Bow Ties

Several months back, a member on a certain men's clothing forum that I frequent posted a picture of a bow tie that his wife had recently made for him using leftover seersucker material. We were all quite impressed, and a little later he came back to us to let us know that his wife had made some more bow ties, if any of us were interested in one. After that, they began offering more choices in fabric as well as options for customization (length, width, shape, etc.). Since then, Ellie LaVeer's cottage business seems to have taken off. There was an article about her in The State, Columbia, SC's newspaper, and there is an interview with her over on E.J. Forbes' blog.

You can check out her current selection at www.elliesbowties.com. In addition to bow ties, she is now making ascots and pocket square, and she can convert your long ties into bow ties for only $23 (something I hope to be taking advantage of in the future). Speaking of prices, they are hard to beat as all bow ties are $23, which includes shipping, though you will have to pay sales tax if you are in South Carolina. While I have not personally tried one of her bow ties (yet), I have seen plenty of pictures and read enough testimony to give them a high recommendation.

DIY RL Rugby Colored Denim

OK, so I will admit that I occasionally check out the New Room (a.k.a.-blog) over on the Rugby website. I like the Who Wears it Best posts, in particular, and while nearly everything they're wearing is made up of completely over-the-top combinations that hopefully no one (other than RL employees) would actually wear, sometimes they do have some interesting stuff. Well, a couple of months back I saw this image

from this Who Wears it Best post, and the featured item was the Vintage Slim Colored Denim. While most of these guys look pretty laughable, I kind of liked the idea of Nantucket red-colored jeans. They seemed like a good substitute for Nantucket reds that could work in situations wear where reds might not normally work, and could possibly be worn into colder months than reds traditionally are. So I checked them out on the Rugby website and saw that they are asking a whopping $108 for these jeans. That's a little rich for my blood, and after checking on the J. Crew and Gap websites to see if they were offering anything comparable (they weren't), I kind of shelved the idea.

The other day I was flipping through the latest Lands End catalog and saw that they are offering colored jeans, including a pair in a "Light Stone" color which are nearly white. I was thinking to myself "Who in the world actually wears white jeans?" when it occurred to me that the white jeans could serve as a base for making my own pair of the jeans from Rugby.

So, this is my new DIY project, however, it requires first obtaining a pair of white jeans. After visiting five or six thrift stores last week, I was actually somewhat surprised that I was unable to find any as this seemed like the kind of item that would be relegated to a thrift store, never to be purchased. I will likely continue looking at thrift stores, and will keep my eye on Ebay, though I haven't found many pair for less than $30, which still seems higher than I want to pay. I'm thinking more like $6.

Once the jeans are obtained, then will come the process of dyeing them. I have done a little research, though most queries on the internet are usually from people who want to redye blue jeans, and that is not what I am trying to do. It seems like this could be somewhat difficult in trying to get them to not appear like a pair of pink jeans, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. If anyone has any tips on dyeing, I would appreciate hearing them.

Make your own gin: a follow-up

The ingredients have been gathered

Earlier this year I came across a couple of websites that talked about how easy it is to make your own gin at home by infusing cheap vodka with select botanicals. This intrigued me, and I even wrote a blog post about it. Well, it wasn't until a couple of months ago that I actually took a shot at it and just now that I finally wrote about it. Below is a recount of my experience.

I based my technique and recipe off of a combination of the information found on this website and this website (though mostly on the first one). I made trips to several stores to buy whole spices, including a local Indian market. I bought juniper (of course), black cardamom pods, bay leaves, black peppercorns, dried lemon peel, dried orange peel, fennel, coriander, and cinnamon bark (the good kind). Surprisingly, the hardest ingredient to find was juniper berries, but I finally managed to track them down at (where else?) Whole Foods. I also picked up a grapefruit to use some of the rind, a cucumber to put in one jar, and picked some rosemary from the backyard.

Anyways, after getting the botanicals, I picked up some hooch at the liquor store in the form of the cheapest handle of 100 proof vodka they had, and some 80 proof to use to dilute the final product. Having a plethora of mason jars, I decided to make four different batches and divided the 1.5L of vodka evenly among these jars. To create my recipes, and to emphasize that I am a nerd, I input the original recipes from the above websites into an Excel spreadsheet, then scaled them down to my smaller batches, and then created two of my own recipes (if you are also a nerd and would like a copy of my spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you). As I mentioned above, one of my custom recipes featured some grapefruit zest and was "heavy" on the dried lemon and orange peel, while another one featured fresh cucumber and rosemary. I used my mortar and pestle to break up some of the whole spices for each recipe, put them in the jars, added the vodka and after giving them each a shake, put them in the pantry.


The four batches right after their assembly

The site I primarily based my recipe on suggested leaving them for a month or so. I would give them each a shake and a visual and olfactory inspection once or twice every day, but really didn't see much point in letting them sit for much longer than a week. So I strained each one through some cheese cloth, and came out with four jars of amber-colored liquid that smelled like they would make decent colognes. At the suggestion of one of the websites, I ran two batches through a Brita pitcher to, as the website seemed to promise, take them from their golden hue to the clear appearance that we all know and love. Well, this is where things stopped working out. I ran one of the batches through the Brita at least 12 or 15 times, possibly more. This stuff simply was not coming out clear. I guess that the oils from the botanicals mixed with the alcohol somehow and there appears to be no way to get it clear, save for distilling it (which I am not going to do). So I gave up, and finally just mixed it with the 40 proof vodka and called it a day.


The four batches after a week of soaking


This is how they came out after being strained (but before the Brita)

So how did it come out? Um, well, not terribly, which is good. I could definitely taste some differences in the two batches that I made, and could almost even taste the grapefruit from the rind that I added. Both were certainly drinkable. However, I think that since we eat and drink with our eyes first, it is difficult to get around the odd color of the gin, though it does mellow out a good bit when added to tonic water. Also, not being a gin connoisseur, I found it somewhat difficult to compare these side-by-side in an attempt to pick up on the subtle ways that this amount of fennel might have been better than this amount of cardamom, etc. I really just drank them with some tonic water. In conclusion: not bad, but I wasn't blown away either.


I believe this was #3, the one with the grapefruit peel, after being filtered through the Brita and diluted with 40 proof vodka


If that was #3, this is #4, the one with the cucumber and rosemary

So is this something you should do? Maybe. If you really like gin, and know what particular flavors you really like and really don't like, this may be a good way to go to try to craft your "perfect" or "signature" blend. It might be fun for Christmas or birthday gifts if you have friends that really like gin. Once you buy the botanicals, it is really a pretty cheap operation as you will, no doubt, have enough spices to make many, many batches. However, until someone can tell me definitively how to get rid of the yellow hue in the final product, I don't think I will be attempting this again any time soon.

Make your own gin

With the weather starting to warm up, gin and tonics are sounding better and better. While I normally just drink Gordon's or Beefeater (if I'm feeling fancy), I've been thinking lately about making my own gin. Since vodka is basically just unfinished gin, it doesn't require much more than putting some spices into a bottle of vodka and letting it sit for a few weeks, it seems like a fairly economical way to create my own special blend.



After doing a little searching on the internet, I came across this website that seems to have a pretty easy guide, including a suggested recipe for the amount of spices to use. I am most likely going to start with this one, though I might try adding some cucumber to it, in the spirit of Hendrick's Gin (though I have yet to actually try it yet; the concept sounds good though). I will provide an update if and when I actually try it.