On December 15, a group of friends arrived at my house to celebrate how old I'm getting. So we ate a bunch of delicious food and broke out the Walter Caesar mix for a taste test. The pressure was on -- I was the bartender and a fairly sloppy one, but overall things turned out pretty well. Being the super fun human I am, I also made my guests write down their thoughts on the Caesars -- with great results. It seems like deep down, everyone has some strong thoughts about the Canadian cocktail. I decided to go for a flashy garnish, so a friend threw a baking sheet of bacon into the oven. I wove the cooked bacon onto skewers with Polski Ogorki pickles and martini olives. Someone else brought some pickled beans which I slid down the side of the glasses, into the drink. Then I added Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper and horseradish to an ounce of gin |
and poured the Caesar mix over ice into the glasses. Because of the large number of drinks I was making, I mixed them in the individual glasses.
A few notes: I seasoned them all exactly the same way, but used both of the Caesar mixes (well spiced and mildly spiced). I forgot to put a salt rim on the first seven glasses, but then my neighbour came over with some special artisinal rim salt and saved the day. (more on this salt in the next post)
A few notes: I seasoned them all exactly the same way, but used both of the Caesar mixes (well spiced and mildly spiced). I forgot to put a salt rim on the first seven glasses, but then my neighbour came over with some special artisinal rim salt and saved the day. (more on this salt in the next post)
And then we drank them! The panel of judges was unanimously positive about their drinks. My decision to add horseradish to all of the cocktails was critiqued as overpowering in the well spiced drinks, but seemed to work with the mildly spiced drinks.
A few people commented on the thickness of the mix, which is noticeably thicker than Clamato. I did a sneaky taste of Walter before my guests arrived. It has a pasta-sauce quality to it, but I think that's a good thing. By the time it's mixed with spirits, ice and other ingredients, it's cut to a perfect consistency.
About halfway through our drinks, a friend pointed out I hadn't used the smoked oysters I had planned to put on the garnishes. So we dropped a couple into our glasses and drizzled in some of the sauce from the tin. GOOD CHOICE. The smoked oyster flavour was a perfect compliment. I think this will be my (not so secret) addition to my own recipe. I overdid it a bit this time, so I'll adjust the amount I add next time.
There was also a lot of Mott's trash talk in the notes, so it looks like Walter is giving Clamato a run for it's money. The craft ingredients and glass containers do mean it's a more expensive product. At my local grocery store Walter is about $3.50 more expensive than a similar size of Clamato. It tastes worth it though. I would buy it.
Here are the transcribed notes:
"Tastes like a Caesar for sure! Restaurant quality plus."
"Get outta town Mott's"
"Def tastes different from regular clamato. I like it. Trying to tell the flavours apart, but I'm tasting gin and bacon and pickles. Should I chug some plain Caesar mix? And horseradish, but Liz put extra in it! Extra!"
"The Walter clamato has a greater depth, especially wen paired with extra horseradish and the trio of deluxe garnishes. If Mott's came to this birthday party, he would be like, 'this isn't my mix,' but would be too embarrassed to say. Killer Caesar. Spicy, sassy and sultry. Nailed it."
"COWABUNGA! I am glad I got a non-spicy version ... even this one is so flavourful! Very refreshing. We tasted pickle in there and ... horseradish? Wasabi? We obviously don't know our way around a Caesar as well as Liz but we are willing to become disciples!"
"First impression: (I am using the garbage can as a table...) First impression repeated: Yum! pickle, bacon combo is delish (especially in one bite)"
Thanks to everyone who took part and indulged my hobby! I guess I'll be tracking down the folks at Mott's in the near future for their response to the success of Walter.
A few people commented on the thickness of the mix, which is noticeably thicker than Clamato. I did a sneaky taste of Walter before my guests arrived. It has a pasta-sauce quality to it, but I think that's a good thing. By the time it's mixed with spirits, ice and other ingredients, it's cut to a perfect consistency.
About halfway through our drinks, a friend pointed out I hadn't used the smoked oysters I had planned to put on the garnishes. So we dropped a couple into our glasses and drizzled in some of the sauce from the tin. GOOD CHOICE. The smoked oyster flavour was a perfect compliment. I think this will be my (not so secret) addition to my own recipe. I overdid it a bit this time, so I'll adjust the amount I add next time.
There was also a lot of Mott's trash talk in the notes, so it looks like Walter is giving Clamato a run for it's money. The craft ingredients and glass containers do mean it's a more expensive product. At my local grocery store Walter is about $3.50 more expensive than a similar size of Clamato. It tastes worth it though. I would buy it.
Here are the transcribed notes:
"Tastes like a Caesar for sure! Restaurant quality plus."
"Get outta town Mott's"
"Def tastes different from regular clamato. I like it. Trying to tell the flavours apart, but I'm tasting gin and bacon and pickles. Should I chug some plain Caesar mix? And horseradish, but Liz put extra in it! Extra!"
"The Walter clamato has a greater depth, especially wen paired with extra horseradish and the trio of deluxe garnishes. If Mott's came to this birthday party, he would be like, 'this isn't my mix,' but would be too embarrassed to say. Killer Caesar. Spicy, sassy and sultry. Nailed it."
"COWABUNGA! I am glad I got a non-spicy version ... even this one is so flavourful! Very refreshing. We tasted pickle in there and ... horseradish? Wasabi? We obviously don't know our way around a Caesar as well as Liz but we are willing to become disciples!"
"First impression: (I am using the garbage can as a table...) First impression repeated: Yum! pickle, bacon combo is delish (especially in one bite)"
Thanks to everyone who took part and indulged my hobby! I guess I'll be tracking down the folks at Mott's in the near future for their response to the success of Walter.