Tagged brandy

American Beauty Cocktail
0

American Beauty

AMERICAN BEAUTY .75 oz. brandy (Pierre Ferrand cognac) .75 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin) .75 oz. orange juice .25 oz. white crème de menthe (Tempus Fugit) 1 oz. port (Taylor Fladgate 10-year-old Tawny Porto) A few drops of grenadine Brian: Check out this laundry list of ingredients: vermouth, brandy, orange juice, port, grenadine! Eric: That sounds…

American Beauty Cocktail -- The Rituals
0

“American Beauty”: Kitchen Sink, Act III

KITCHEN SINK: A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS ACT III “AMERICAN BEAUTY”   A cold feeling of hopelessness descends upon the two men in the kitchen. Or maybe it’s just the advancing chill of night as the sun retreats behind the earth. The counter is littered with bottles and spent fruit. One man recites the next recipe…

Ambrosia for Two -- The Rituals
0

Ambrosia For Two

A warm summer afternoon. A kitchen. Two men in early middle age make cocktails while their wives consort in the living room. One man, Brian, consults a bartender guide. A recipe awaits. AMBROSIA FOR TWO 3 oz. brandy (Pierre Ferrand cognac) 3 oz. apple brandy (St. George California Reserve) Several drops of raspberry syrup (DIY) Champagne…

Ambrosia for Two -- The Rituals
0

“Ambrosia For Two”: Kitchen Sink, Act I

KITCHEN SINK: A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS ACT I “AMBROSIA FOR TWO”   A warm summer afternoon. A kitchen. Two men in early middle age make cocktails while their wives consort in the living room. One man, Brian, consults a bartender guide. A recipe awaits. AMBROSIA FOR TWO 3 oz. brandy (Pierre Ferrand cognac) 3 oz….

The Rituals - Alabazam Cocktail
0

What’s In a Name?

What’s in a name? Mr. Bill Shakespeare aptly used this question in Romeo and Juliet to show that names are but labels and that the worth of the person is all that truly matters. Today we measure the worth of a few cocktails with the names ALABAMA FIZZ (not too intriguing), ALABAZAM (piques interest), and ALASKA (it’s…

The Alabama Cocktail
0

Alabama

The ALABAMA is the only beverage in its session without “special” in its name. Humility is important in a cocktail, we are discovering, but it’s also the death knell if you’re a cocktail trying to survive amongst an ocean of self-aggrandizing, self-promoting millennials. A cocktail that has really mastered SEO and branding is the Alabama Slammer,…

The Airmail Special Cocktail
0

Airmailing a Hot Toddy into Alabama, Part 2

In Part 1 of this post, Brian and Eric (and guest tasters Jesse and Andrew) blundered through a frail cocktail called the Airmail Special. The recipe may have been compromised by an atypical lack of lime juice measuring precision, but the disappointing results felt very familiar. In Part 2, the guys lumber forward toward the remaining two drinks…

0

After Dinner Special

AFTER DINNER SPECIAL .75 oz. cherry brandy (Cherry Heering) 1.5 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade) 1 oz. lime juice Combine with ice; shake. Strain over ice.  Brian It’s good. Lime and Cherry Heering. I can’t taste the punsch. Not overpowering lime. Jason The bitter part is the punsch. This is a citrus bomb. Brian Ladies will…

0

After Dinner Aggravation, Part 1

I hop in the Lyft I requested minutes ago. As I sit into the front seat bottles can be heard clanking and clinking. “How’s your day going,” the driver asks. To which I reply, “It’s about to get better. Heading to a friend’s to have some cocktails.” This is how most of my Lyft rides…

Adios Amigos Cocktail
0

Adios Amigos

We have all had bad liquor at some point in our lives. When you were young what was the first booze you tasted? Peach schnapps? Communion wine? In college you didn’t go out and buy Jewel of Russia vodka or Bambu rum to make jungle juice. No you went and bought whatever was the cheapest….

Adam & Eve Cocktail
0

Adam and Eve

ADAM AND EVE 1 oz. gin (Bombay Dry) 1 oz. cognac (Hennessey) 1 oz. Forbidden Fruit (Rituals DIY) A few drops lemon juice Combine with ice; shake. Strain over ice.  It’s called this because of the FORBIDDEN FRUIT in the recipe, and though it seems like some kind of modified Negroni, we immediately question if our…

0

Absinthe Cleanup thru the Adam and Eve

I arrive at Brian’s thinking how grateful his wife Amanda must be now that we have finished the cooking and bottling portion of the Rituals (at least for awhile). The ACADIAN MEAD is aging in his closet, sure, but it’s out of sight and out of mind. We’ll be using our homemade ANISETTE today and our DIY CRÈME…

2

Time to Cook, Part 2

Previously on the Rituals: We rescued the ACADIAN MEADS, made two kinds of ANISETTE DE BORDEAUX, and started the FORBIDDEN FRUIT simulacrum. All five items have been sitting in my closet for a couple of weeks. I stop by every couple of days and swirl around the bits that have settled to the bottom. Somehow this…

1

Time to Cook, Part 1

The A section of The Complete World Bartender Guide has 113 cocktail recipes, 8 liquors, and 7 punches for a grand total of 134 beverages we need to make and consume. Not every session can be cocktails and fun. Some days we need to make the liquors and punches. This week we have decided to tackle a liqueur…

A.J. Cocktail
0

A.J.

A.J. 1 ½ oz. apple brandy (Laird’s Applejack, although Laird’s Apple Brandy might give it more kick) 1 ½ unsweetened grapefruit juice (from Eric’s tree) A few drops grenadine (Morgenthaler’s DIY) Combine with ice; shake well. Strain and add ice. Most modern versions of this recipe leave off the grenadine but Brian has made a…

0

The New Optimism: A.J. thru Aberdeen Angus

Since the first few meetings were consumed with getting the dreaded A-1 PICK-ME-UP off the ground, we are tingly with excitement to get started on the first four cocktails after the A-1: the A.J., the ABBEY, the ABBEY COCKTAIL, and the ABERDEEN ANGUS. We will be mixing, and talking, and consuming, and comparing, and contrasting,…

Always drink responsibly!