Spirits in Chinese Medicine - Roots tonics and other delights

[TenTigers]

the brand I buy has a picture of a chicken on a plate as an offering. It is almost day-glo orange when you pour it-especially if you pour it into a styrofoam cup!
Some say it's rocket fuel, and will probably peel th epaint off your furniture if you spill it, or go through five floors of your house like alien blood. But, I love it!

[mickey]

Yeeaahhh Boiiee!

That is the Hong Kong version! When I buy that I say, "Hong Kong Wu Ga Pi" and they know what I am TALKIN' about.

mickey

[herb ox]

any of y'all have any experience ingesting Dit Da Jow?

What kind was it?

How did it taste?

Did it work???

am I asking too many questions?

ox

[GeneChing]

This strikes me as sort of funny now. There's a long tradition of medicinal liquor, not just in TCM but in western spirits too. I remember when jaegermeister first came to the U.S. (I worked with one of the primary marketers for the West Coast) - it's a digestif, which implies medicinal properties, but of course, here it was marketed as something that could get you majorly spun. Gin & Tonics were originally medicinal for the quinine, and a Hot Toddy is still a great Irish cold remedy. In TCM, there's so many medicinal liquors. I think it is somewhat the fallout for the quest for the external dan - that Daoist obsession with longevity elixirs, akin to the European quest for the Philosopher's Stone. I'm not quite sure how cocktails fit into this exactly, but such is the modern world.

This new Blagden Alley spot uses traditional Chinese medicine to boost its cocktails
By Fritz Hahn February 27


The Nathan Road cocktail at Tiger Fork (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post)

It's not unusual for a restaurant to work with an outside cocktail consultant to map out its opening drink menu. But Ian Fletcher, the beverage director for Tiger Fork in Blagden Alley, has spent the last few months crafting his menu with the help of a different kind of specialist: a practitioner trained in traditional Chinese medicine.

Tiger Fork's featured "TCM" cocktails involve ingredients used to fight fatigue and boost the immune system, as well as a concoction containing reputed aphrodisiacs. "One of my fears going into this was adverse effects" of mixing herbs with each other as well as alcohol, Fletcher says, but he's been reassured after repeated consultations and tests. "It took weeks" of talking to the Chinese medicine specialist "to figure out what we were going to use," Fletcher explains. "He did the 'Don't do this, use less of this, use more of that.'" The specialist also steered Fletcher to a New York company that sells "organic-certified" plants, barks and ingredients.

Fletcher's final drink list goes beyond medicinal cocktails, however, to include a handful of classic drinks, some of which are well-known in the U.S., such as the Raffles Bar Gin Sling, and some others that might only be familiar to those who have visited Hong Kong, such as the Tai Tam Toddy.

The TCM cocktails may not all cure what ails you — the drink recipes have not been evaluated by the FDA — but they'll make you feel good.

Nathan Road ($14)

"There's a Chinese saying that 'All good medicine is bitter,'" Fletcher says. "I can tell you from research that's pretty accurate." Covering up the medicinal flavors in the seeds, barks and leaves used in the traditional medicines was the most difficult part of coming up with recipes. Nathan's Road was a little easier, since most of its base ingredients are flowers. The detoxifying cocktail actually tastes more like an herbal tea, and is made with mullein flower, English violets, rhodiola, hibiscus and purple basil — the latter of which is also used as a garnish — in addition to bourbon, plum wine and lemon. It's very floral on the nose, but finishes slightly bitter and vegetal.


Eight O'Clock Light Show (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post)

8 O'Clock Light Show ($14)

The name of this rum cocktail comes from Hong Kong's famous nightly 8 p.m. "Symphony of Light" show, which involves lasers, searchlights and flashing lights on more than 40 buildings on the harbor. "This drink is about energy," Tiger Fork co-owner Greg Algie explains. He's not kidding. The traditional ingredients include kola nut, the caffeine-rich tree nut that gives cola its name; guarana seed, frequently found in energy drinks; ginseng, which boosts energy levels; and astragalus, which is said to fight fatigue. ("It's not like Red Bull," Fletcher swears. "This is all natural.") The combination of yuzu and mandarin orange gives the cocktail a bright, fruity flavor, accentuated with the smoldering stick of cinnamon sitting on the glass. While there's also cinnamon in the stimulating syrup, Fletcher says, the garnish "looks good, it makes the bar smell delightful."


Tiger Fork Happy Happy (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post)

Happy Happy ($14)

Telling people that a cocktail is an aphrodisiac is probably the easiest way to get them to order it. And when Fletcher has been getting friends together to taste cocktails in progress, the Happy Happy "has been the most popular," he says with a grin. The base of this drink is baijiu, a clear Chinese grain spirit that falls somewhere between moonshine and vodka. Tiger Fork's version uses HKB, a Hong Kong baijiu "made for the express purpose of introducing baijiu to people who aren't familiar with it." The spirit has a funky, cooked pineapple flavor on its own. Fletcher adds a sour cherry soda made with Sichuan peppercorns — yes, they're an aphrodisiac — and a syrup that contains saffron, cardamom, pomegranate, passionflower and other spices.


Tai Tam Toddy (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post)

Tai Tam Toddy ($9)

When Algie and his team went to Hong Kong to do research for Tiger Fork, they found themselves drinking plenty of boiled Coke and lemon, a popular cold remedy that has crossed over to become a local favorite. (Yes, it's essentially warmed-up Coca-Cola with ginger and lemon.) To make the Tai Tam Toddy, Fletcher boils Coca-Cola down to form a concentrate, and then rehydrates it into a syrup, which is then mixed with Greenhook's Old Tom Gin, a New York gin heavy on citrusy spice, and several slices of lemon. Served warm in a double-walled metal vessel that resembles a heavy cocktail shaker, the drink tastes like a smooth, comforting Southern sweet tea, albeit one served at a different temperature.


Tiger Fork, 922 N St. NW (rear).

[MarathonTmatt]

hello,
Interesting topics in this thread. What caught my eye was the use of medicine bottles/ tonics/ etc. "Medicinal Spirits." In parts of North America it is a tradition in the Native culture, 18th century- modern times, to leave a glass medicinal/ liquor bottle at a site of vision quest, such as wedged into a niche in a stone. There are many "U" shaped stone structures, which are called Prayer Seats, usually fit to accommodate one person, usually facing East (the rising sun), and if you look close you will sometimes see 18th or 19th century glass bottles placed in a stone niche there.

I realize that this is different from Chinese culture, but it is interesting to note parallels between the folk traditions of different traditional cultures.

[herb ox]

The boiled Coke and ginger solution is awesome if not for the feeling that it leaves on your teeth - like the enamel has been etched slightly - which it probably has been. Did this one time after an all day excursion into the rainy redwood forests with a kungfu brother and a fellow rock-medder. We had been out all day and decided to hike way out to a friends house on the other side of the forest and lay in wait for his arrival after work. Well, he never showed. We were cold and drenched. Remembering the can of Pepsi I had brought and the granulated ginger I always carried in my survival pouch, I whipped it together with my alcohol stove heating the lot.

We gratefully shared that concoction and it literally warmed us to the bone.

Good stuff - wouldn't do it very often but in a pinch it can save you from hypothermia.

h. ox

[GeneChing]

...oh please.

Restaurant innovates cocktails, mixing in traditional Chinese medicine



Published December 8, 2017 at 9:05 PM
Updated December 9, 2017 at 2:56 PM

Traditional Chinese medicine dates back thousands of years. But it’s getting a modern twist — and taste — in Washington, D.C.

CGTN’s Frances Kuo shows us how.



Tiger Fork is one of the newest restaurants in D.C. The food is creating quite a buzz, but it’s the drinks that are really grabbing people’s attention. Each one contains herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.

“I’m not aware of anyone doing what we’re doing,” said Tiger Fork’s Beverage Director, Ian Fletcher. “People think it’s a joke.”

But Fletcher is getting the last laugh.

“It was something we knew we wanted to incorporate from the very beginning when we were conceptualizing the restaurant,” Fletcher said.

The drinks—which are not just for medicinal use—are proving popular with customers.

“It tastes very herby and kind of strong but very different and cool,” said Katie Denboer, as she sipped one of Fletcher’s creations.

“My father always said that medicine is not supposed to taste good, otherwise you would keep tasting it, like it was an actual drink,” said Jeff Nickeson, as he lapped up one offering.

And that’s the twist—Tiger Fork is actually making traditional Chinese medicine that’s just as tasty as it is healthy.

“The ingredients themselves are what throw people off,” said Fletcher. “There’s a lot of bark, twigs, roots, nuts, that kind of stuff.”

Tiger Fork offers four special TCM cocktails, using TCM ingredients like ginseng.

“The TCM cocktails are our number one best seller, even more than wine or beer,” said Fletcher. “They’re hot.”

Each of the drinks has a different benefit: detoxifying, boosting the immune system, or boosting energy or combatting anxiety.

A big concern for Fletcher in making the drinks was masking the taste of the medicine. Citrus flavors added to some of the cocktails did the trick.

Another consideration—making sure the combination of alcohol and herbs was safe. Fletcher spent nearly a year researching the ingredients, and even hired a specialist to review them.

“That’s part of what we were doing in consulting with the TCM practitioner was the amount we would need to use to make it effective but not to hurt people,” Fletcher said.

But customers should be careful not to confuse the TCM cocktails with prescription medicines.

“You’re still drinking alcohol,” cautions Fletcher.

Most of the customers at Tiger Fork had never heard of traditional Chinese medicine, so they were getting their first taste of it.

“The idea that it’s something new and different, that’s a draw,” said Denboer.

“I think it’s a fresh take outside the usual,” said Nickeson.

A blend of old and new, in every sip.

[GeneChing]

The ironic thing about TCM curative drinks is that I'd never drink them leisurely. They taste like...well, like medicine.

THIS COCKTAIL INSPIRED BY CHINESE MEDICINE IS INFUSED WITH PAIN-RELIEVING HERBS
ABIGAIL LIBERS, MAY 24, 2018


Photo: Tiger Fork

TOTAL TIME
5 minutes

Is it possible to reap the health benefits of herbs…from a cocktail? While not all experts would agree, Ian Fletcher, beverage director at Tiger Fork in Washington, D.C., argues that it is. “Alcohol, especially Chartreuse, Benedictine, and Amaro, has been used as a vessel for medicine for ages,” he says.

At Tiger Fork, Fletcher works with a Chinese medicine specialist to dream up concoctions that include ingredients purporting to soothe anxiety, boost your immune system, and more. His latest creation, the Eccedentesiast (which means “one who smiles to hide suffering”), uses pain-relieving herbs like hong hua (aka, safflower, which promotes blood circulation), Chinese licorice (to detoxify), poppy leaf and devil’s claw (for pain relief), and St. John’s wort (to fight inflammation and depression).

These herbs get infused into whiskey and are then combined with Giffard Abricot Du Roussillon, club soda, and lemon. The result: What Fletcher calls an “herbal aspirin” that’s “light and refreshing but still in our wheelhouse of weird and funky.” The jury’s out on whether or not it’ll actually cure a headache (and if you drink too many, it’ll surely *cause* one) but either way, it’s the perfect sip for spring and summer.

Tiger Fork, 922 N Street (Rear) NW, Blagden Alley, Washington DC 20001 Ph: 202-733-1152

THE ECCEDENTESIAST

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time
Servings 1 person

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE ECCEDENTESIAST
1 oz Rye Infusion (see recipe below)
1 oz Giffard Abricot
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
FOR THE RYE INFUSION (MAKES 32 SERVINGS)
90 g Jujube (split, not seeded)
50 g Chinese Licorice Root (slices)
30 g Poppy Leaf
45 g St John’s Wort
30 g Devil’s Claw (cut and sifted)
30 g Hong Hua
2 liters rye whiskey?

INSTRUCTIONS
Add all herbs to a two liter mason jar. Fill with the rye whiskey. Store at room temperature for at least two days and at most, seven days.

Strain the herbs out of the whiskey, making sure all solids are removed. Rye infusion can be stored at room temperature indefinitely.

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine Rye infusion, Giffard Abricot, and lemon juice. Shake.

Pour over ice into a twelve ounce glass (such as a high ball glass). Top off with soda water and garnish with a lemon wedge.