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Nikka Whisky and Tonka Bean Smoked Salted Caramel Recipe

I wanted to jazz up my usual salted caramel recipe for pancake day and thought there’s no better way than to add some whisky from my favourite Japanese whisky distillery.

My brother bought me a new bottle of Nikka from the barrel so I decided to use up what was left in my other bottle, along with some added tonka beans I had lying around in the cupboard.

Nikka Whisky and Tonka Bean Smoked Salted Caramel Ingredients

50ml Nikka From the Barrel Whisky
100ml tonka bean infused double cream
200g granulated sugar
100ml of water
100g unsalted butter (I used salted as that’s all I had in the fridge but I’d use unsalted and add the amount of smoked salt you need to taste)
Pinch of smoked salt. I used Maldron or you could use Halen Mon.

Instructions

To make the tonka bean infused cream, take two tonka beans, snap them and drop into the cream.
Cover the cream and let to infuse overnight. I found snapping them rather than grating the tonka bean, made it easier to remove the tonka bean after infusion.
Add the sugar to a saucepan with a splash of water.
Warm the cream up gently so that it doesn’t fizz violently when added to the caramelised sugar.
Heat the sugar up until it starts to smell like caramel and starts to turn golden in colour.
Take the sugar off the heat when it gets to the desired caramelisation but don’t let it go too dark as it will burn and taste bitter. It will carry on cooking after you take it off too so act quickly.
Add the warmed cream to the sugar and the butter then whisk to combine. Be careful as it does splutter when you add the liquids to the sugar.
When the butter and cream are added, pour the whisky in. If you put the whisky in too early it will just burn off.
Add as much smoked salt to the caramel as you prefer and mix to combine.
Pour the caramel into a container that allows you to spoon out easily.
Use straight away once it’s cooled a little or put in the fridge.

You can add the caramel to pancakes like it did, drizzle over ice cream, add to your breakfast oats, top with toasted crumpets with nutella, use for millionaire bars, pour over waffles or just take a spoon and enjoy.

July 23, 2019/0 Comments/by nicky batchelor

Booze

Nikka Whisky and Gin Tasting – Cocktail Judging at Lab22 Cardiff

The Nikka brand and distillery is responsible for my recent obsession with Japanese spirits and alcohol. It was the first Japanese whisky I tried and subsequently the only whisky that isn’t Welsh in my home bar with the entry but delicious level Nikka from the Barrel.

I’m not sure whether it’s the resemblance of the brand name to my actual name or the story of the founder Masataka Taketsuru. Taketsuru, born in Hiroshima to a family of sake producers. He rebelled against already written future as a sake producer, upped sticks and traveled to Scotland, not knowing a word of English, to learn the art of distilling.

With his new found skill in distilling Scotland’s most famous export after deep fried Mars bars, he returned to Japan. With a Scottish wife in tow, he went to work for the Japanese distillery Suntory, which is still one of the most famous to this day.

After creative differences, he decided to go it alone and setup his own distillery Nikka. You probably wouldn’t have guessed, but certain areas of Japan closely resemble the climate, humidity and altitude famed by the Scottish distilleries. These sorts of variables can have a huge impact to the final product and it’s taste.

Nikka Distillery has now been producing highly awarded as sought after Japanese Whisky from their distilleries all around Japan, using a variety of different techniques from pot stills, multi column Coffey Stills and they even still use coal fired stills on some of the batches.

Not only whisky, but Nikka have also more recently added white spirits to their arsenal in the form of gin and vodka. Using the Coffey still (not coffee) to produce the neutral grain spirit of vodka. They then use this base spirit, which is distilled with Japanese botanicals to create a spicy, citrus forward gin with the help of yuzu, amanatsu, kabosu, shikuwasa and the sansho pepper, which is a member of the sizchuan pepper.

They call this Nikka Coffey Gin. I’ve got a bottle of this in the house too, and it’s bloody lush!

Nikka Whisky, Gin and Vodka Tasting at Lab22

Luckily for me, Lab 22, one of my favourite Cardiff bars and the one where i’ve tried most of the Japanese whiskys I’ve sampled in my time, were having an industry tasting day with Nikka brand ambassador one afternoon recently. That was more than enough reason to book the afternoon off work for in my eyes.

We got to learn about the history of Nikka, the story of Masataka Taketsuru and how he grew his company over 50 years ago to be one of the most recognised Japanese Whisky brands on the planet.

Then onto the most important part, tasting our way around the collection of Nikka spirits from blended, single cask, aged whisky to the recent coffey additions such as Nikka Coffey grain whisky, Malt whisky, Gin and Vodka.

I’d sampled a few drinks form the Nikka range lately, but there’s bloody loads of them, so I was more than happy to work my way through more of the back catalogue.

My favourite from the 8 varities we tried was between the Nikka Single malt Miyagikyo and the Taketsuru pure malt.

There weren’t any of the aged expresions, but I’m not suprised as the Japanese whisky drought that’s going on has sent them skyrocketing in price. I did manage to try the Nikka Taketsuru 17 year old recently at Pennyroyal mind. This is probably the last time as that is currently at £200 a bottle, so god knows how much the 21 year old is, and that’s bottle price so for a shot you’re looking £20+ no doubt.

Judging the Nikka cocktail competition

Lab knows my love for Japanese Whisky and Gin, so asked me to judge for the Nikka cocktail comp after the tasting event. How could i refuse?

There were two heats to the comp with Japanese bar tendering skills in the form of hand carved ice to a stopwatch where they had a minute to carve a block of ice into a sphere to fit into a whisky tumbler.

Second heat was all about the drinks. Each bartender had to create a cocktail with at least 50ml of any of the Nikka products we sampled during the day, whether that was Nikka Whisky, Gin or Vodka. Scoring was based on taste, appearance and story.

I’ll be honest, I wish this was my full time paid job as I was in my oils. Luckily there was no need for any bandages in the first heat from rogue stabs of the ice with the ice pick but we had a right good laugh at the effort the guys put in on the first round.

For the cocktails, nearly every entrant used Nikka Whisky from Nikka from the barrel to Yoichi and Taketsuru Pure Malt. With only Alex, mixologist and owner of Penny Royal opting for a mix of Nikka Whisky and Gin in his cocktail.

There were some mesmerising back stories and props thrown into the performances from some and some damn fine cocktails to match, but there could only be one winner. That happened to be Alex who went for a mix of the Nikka gin and whisky, with a short and punchy number with added Japanese ice ball to add a little bit more flair to the drink.

Alex walked away with an enviable bottle of something a bit special from Nikka and sadly wasn’t open to requests to share it with me. Oh well.

A big thanks to Lab22 for letting me join in the tasting and cocktail judging and a big thanks to Nathan from Nikka for giving me the low down on the history of the distillery, which I always find fascinating.

January 20, 2019/0 Comments/by nicky batchelor

Booze

Classic Cocktail Recipes & Bastardised Classics

If you’re looking for some inspiration for some classic cocktails or my spin on classic gin and whisky cocktails then these few cocktails might be right up your street.

I’m mostly found drinking gin when out in bars in the evening but I’m a sucker for a Japanese whisky, especially the Nikka Whisky range. Luckily for me they’ve recently branched out into the juniper spirit world too.

I’m by no means a professional mixologist but I do like to experiment not only in the kitchen but with my ever growing collection of spirits at home.

The Last Word Cocktail

50ml gin
25ml Green Chartreuse
25ml Maraschino Liquer
25ml fresh lime juice

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir with a bar spoon for around 15-20 seconds to both dilute and cool the mix. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and serve.

Last Samurai Cocktail

50ml Nikka Coffey Gin
25ml Green Chartruese
25ml Maraschino Liquer
12ml lime juice
12ml yuzu juice

Instructions

This is a play on the Last word cocktail above but with a Japanese twist using Nikka Coffey Gin with it’s Japanese inspired botanicals and subbing half the lime juice with Yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit.

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir with a bar spoon for around 15-20 seconds to both dilute and cool the mix. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and serve.

Aviation Cocktail

50ml gin
12ml Crème de Violette
12ml Maraschino Liquer
25ml fresh lemon juice
1 Luxardo maraschino cherry to garnish

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir with a bar spoon for around 15-20 seconds to both dilute and cool the mix.

Add a Luxardo maraschino cherry and a little of the syrup into a chilled couple glass. Strain the cooled mixture into the couple glass and serve.

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Tonka Bean Old Fashioned Cocktail

50ml Cocao butter fat washed Nikka From The Barrel Whisky
10ml Tonka Bean and Hazlenut Syrup
3 dashes umeboshi

Instructions

Add the Nkka, Tonka Bean Syrup and umeboshi to a mixing glass with ice. Stir with a bar spoon for around 15-20 seconds to both dilute and cool the mix.

Strain into a cut glass old fashioned or rocks glass with a block of ice and serve.

How to make the components of the cocktail

To make the Cacao butter fat washed Nikka you will need to melt cacao butter in a bowl over hot water and pour the liquid butter into a container with the whisky. Depending on how much you want to make depends on how much cacao butter to use.
I made 50ml of whisky to test and used a chunk about the size of my thumb. Make sure the container is to seal as you want to shake it to mix the fat in with the whisky.
I left out to make sure it cooled for a few hours, then put it in the fridge overnight. I then placed the whisky in the freezer for an hour or two so the fat hardens. It has probably solidified already but we want to make sure it is solid so we can scoop it out easily.
When you’re ready to roll, take the container out of the freezer and use a spoon to scoop out the cocao butter. Mine resembled a mini poppadum and was in two large pieces so was easy to fish out. Then take a fine sieve and pour the whisky into whatever container you want to store it in so it could be the empty whisky bottle but using the sieve to catch any small remnants of the cocao butter.
The longer you leave the butter in the whisky the more pronounced the flavour. You don’t want to overpower the drink so play around with the timings. Mine was about 24 hours but you could do it less for a more subtle taste or depending how much cacao butter you use.
To make the tonka bean and hazelnut syrup you want to smash up a few hazlenuts and dry roast in a pan to toast them and give them a more smoky flavour. Depending on how much you want to make up the measurements but I went for a test batch and used about 5 or 6 nuts with equal amounts of water and sugar. For this small batch I used 75ml of water and 75ml of sugar.
Once the hazlenuts have toasted but make sure they don’t burn, add the sugar and water and turn it up to a boil. Cook for another minute once it’s boiling and take off the heat. I then added 1 tonka bean, which I snapped into 4 pieces.
Bare in mind that in high does tonka beans, much like nutmeg can become toxic so don’t overdo it but some sources have said it could take around 20+ tonka beans for a person to cause damage. It’s for this reason tonka beans are banned in the US but this is from many years before too much research had been done to say they are toxic but in high quantities.
Leave the mixture to cool for a few hours and to develop. Once you are happy with the concentration of flavours, decant the mixture into a clean container or bottle using a fine mesh sieve again to remove any residue that could cause it to spoil.

nikka whisky cocao tonka bean and hazlenut cocktail ingredients

melted cocao butter for fat washed whisky

solidified cocao butter after fat washing whisky

September 5, 2018/0 Comments/by nicky batchelor

Review

Zuma Restaurant Review Rome

So it was our final night in Rome and it was only by chance we found this place because it was recommended to us by a guy in Bocci when I was buying a shirt on the way past after our cocktails in the Stravinskij Bar.

Instead of heading back to the Vatican for our bus back to the hotel we realised it was more or less the same distance in a straight line to the hotel so we thought we would scout out somewhere for another cocktail and maybe some nibbles. I got distracted by Boggi as I had a gander around the store at the Venice train station and we asked for a recomendation for some cocktails nearby and the guy said they do good cocktails and sushi at Zuma at the Fendi store.

Just a short walk up the street and just on a street to the right of the Spanish steps was the Fendi store with the Zuma restaurant taking up the the rooftop terrace with a bar and Japanese restaurant underneath.

It took us a while looking for the entrance to the restaurant / bar inside the store but we managed to find it taking the lift to the top floor. We were met by a concierge at the top who kindly showed us to a table for two on the rooftop terrace. It was around 7pm so still quite early so wasn’t too busy up there and we were hoping for a sofa with better views of the surrounding City horizon but unfortunately they were reserved for groups of 4 or more.

After spending 22 euors per cocktail in Stravinskij Bar i was quite relieved to see the damange of around 12 euros a pop here.

I decided to follow on with another Martini but a more fruity one this time although it wasn’t quite as potent as my previous offering at Stravinskij. Armed with the menu we had a browse through the snack menu when all of a sudden I had the insatiable urge to order one of everything off the menu. We had a quick chat to the waiter who informed us that the resaurant downstairs offered a larger selection of food than the terrace so we decided to book a table ASAP downstairs.

The Restaurant

A short descent one floor in the lift and again we were kindly welcomed by the concierge at the front desk who escorted us to a vacant table, passing the open kitchen with smouldering hot coals kissing juicy chunks of meat sending whafts of smokey bbq scents across the room and a big massive smile on my face.

The decor with dark frames with ambient lighting behind fusuma portraying a traditional japanese building inside.

The Food

The good thing about the Zuma restaurant in Rome is that they have not only 1 restaurant but 3 restaurant menu’s but with the choice of ordering something from each to give you a different take on japanese food on your journey through the evening.

The waitress was ever so helpfull in explaining the menu and giving recomendations on what to order and quantities to suit.

So were weren’t sat in hunger we decided to opt for the spicy tuna sushi as we pondered over the menu, which was like a Japanese tapas / sharing type of afair. This suited us as we could have a little nibble, a bit of wine and order a bit more if we were still peckish rather than have one giant plate, eat the lot, feel bloated, unable to finish the wine and leave feeling sick.

Sold to us as spicy, the parcels of rice, with tuna chunks had a smudge of semi spicy mayo esque sauce on top with the standard pickled ginger, wasabi and soy. I don’t mind a little bit of sushi but I’ve been scared after a bout of food poisoning after grabbing a Spicy Tuna wrap at Yo Sushi in Paddington before boarding the train back to Cardiff a few years back.

We wolfed the sushi down, which was good don’t get me wrong but I just feel like i’m eating sushi as it’s healthy and not because i’m actually enjoying it if I’ve got a massive slab of sashimi in my mouth but luckily there were only little slithers of tuna. It was spicyish but not overly spicy for my taste.

Next up were the coal fired chicken skewers. The plate arrived with two skewers with dainty pieces of seasoned chicken wings attached and some fresh lime. This was probably the least exciting plate albeit one of the cheapest. Chicken was edible but it wasn’t in the same league as any of the other plates and there wasn’t much meat after you disect it from the skewers and bones.

Still on the bite sized and snack menu, we ordered the prawn and black cod gyoza and a bowl of chilli squid as standard.

Tender rings of squid with a nice crisp and spicy texture to the dish, these were up there with some of the best calamari I’ve tried and boy I’ve tried a few. The gyoza were just devine. A nice caramelisation on the base but silky smooth parcels filled with suculent and juicy nuggets of seafood. I could of eaten two plates to myself.

I think I would of died and gone to heaven if i’d had my way and ordered the Wagyu Tomahawk Steak although it would of cost me more than the 3 day trip to Italy altogether so I opted for the spicy beef tenderloin as a compromise.

They don’t mess around here and don’t have you waiting long at all for each course. The beef arived already diced into manageble chunks. The meat was so tender, doused in soy, sesame and flecks of chilli. I don’t know how they managed to get beef this soft and melt in the mouth cooked over hot coals but i’m guessing they must of braised it or tenderised it in some kind of soy based marinade first. After my first chunk I immediately remembered buying some beef braising sauce from a Japanse deli a few months back my mind went wandering off thinking of how i could re-create the dish when I got back. This was easily the best plate of steak I’d ever tasted.

After ordering a couple of meat dishes we thought we’d get some vegetables down us too, so we ordered the sweet potato dish. Also fired up over the hot coal they came slightly chared, yet soft in the middle with a delicious, salty soy glaze. These will definitely be making an appearance come BBQ season back home too.

We had probably had more than enough to feed a family of 4 by this point but the waitress finally twisted our arm and we opted for the lamb chops to finish off the main feast as she said it was her favourite on the menu.

Flame licked, crispy lamb fat cooked perfectly pink in the middle. I don’t know how it took me 6 dishes to convince me I needed this lamb in my life but I’m glad I came around to the idea as lamb is one of my fav’s especially gnawing every last crispy morsel off the bone at the end. My innner caveman making an appearance.

Any other waitress would of looked at us in disgust at the amount we had just ate but ours was so lovely and on point with the food and drinks from start to finish. Well we were in Rome so I planned on eating like an Emperor before the curtain closed on our blink and it’s almost over trek across Italy. Dessert it was!

I was tempted to have a Japanese Whisky on the side with my food but the white wine was flowing ever so well so I decided to opt for some of it in my dessert instead. One hell of a concoction filled my dessert bowl with chocolate parfait, tonka bean marshmallow, Nikka Japanese Whisky jelly and chocolate shards. I’m sure there must of been another 10 ingredients working their magic in there but I couldn’t pick them out.

This was decadent but the whisky jelly wasn’t as potent as I’d hoped and the whisky didn’t come through that well but it was a very good dessert.

As we were doing a sharsies one dessert just wasn’t enough so also on the table to share was a banana and green tea cake, coconut ice cream and peanut toffee. This surely was the finishing dish to top off an amazing first experience at Zuma in Rome.

Soft sponge, sweet sticky and nutty caramel puddles complimented beautifully with the coconut ice cream and smashed peanuts. Again I wept a little at the thought of having to hand over half of it although that was probably wise considering the 20 million calories i’d just consumed in such as small space of time.

The Verdict

This was probably the most expensive meal I’ve ever had out but I’d also say it was probably the best dinning experience I’ve ever had to date. We did have a feast fit for an Emperor and the service was first class. The waitress was so attentive filling the wine, checking we were ok, giving recommendations, the speed they delivered each plate was insane. The flames must of just licked the meat with never more than a few minutes from ordering to tucking into each plate but what came was absolutely spot on flavourwise and quality.

We just ordered more of a grazing, tapas style meal but they cater for those looking for premium cuts and quality with the Wagyu tomahawk, lobster etc. I can only imagine how amazing the lobster would of tasted and that will be top of my list if I ever come back again.

I’d go back in a flash and would recommend anyone visiting the Zuma in Rome or any of the other sites around the world if this one was anything to go by.

Price cost around 170 euros but that included two cocktails, bottle of wine, 7 dishes and 2 desserts.

August 7, 2017/0 Comments/by nicky batchelor