According to Wikipedia (always love saying that), the word ALBEMARLE is the Latinised form of the French county of Aumale in Normandy (Latin: Alba Marla meaning “White Marl”, marl being a type of fertile soil). White marl, eh? The Savoy Stomp blog digs around and finds some more interesting history about Albemarle: It was also an early Virginia colony gone bad,…
This cocktail has us venturing to America’s last frontier, ALASKA. No one knows how this cocktail got its name, but The Savoy Cocktail Book speculates it came from South Carolina. I’m unsure if that’s 1930s humor or not. The ALASKA piques our interest with its recipe of liquor, liquor, and bitters, but once again we have something to take…
ALABAZAM! No it’s not a sequel to Shaquille O’Neal’s groundbreaking genie film Kazaam—it’s our next cocktail. After doing a little research on this drink I am quite intrigued—and not just by the name. Every recipe that I find has the use of a teaspoon of Angostura bitters. That’s a lot of bitters! The last drink I had with a lot…
Jerry Thomas, the most famous celebrity bartender, first wrote about the Fizz cocktail in 1876. Fizzes became so popular that bars would have teams of bartenders just to make them. There would be bartenders to shake the drinks and bartenders who would add the soda water and finish it with superfine sugar to make the drink…
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 first thing any living creature will ask itself after drinking AL LONG’S SPECIAL HOT TODDY is “Who the hell is Al Long?” Jesse asserts that Mr. Long is a veteran of the blue movies, but after significant digging I conclude that Al Long is not actually Al Long at all, but A.L. Long (Armistead Lindsay…
There is no mention of the AIRMAIL SPECIAL on the Internet, whatsoever, but instead of filling me with excitement, like the A-1 PICK-ME-UP, this dearth of information depletes my energy stores. We are back in the jungle again, with anarchy, and no road map to guide us. Going by what the Bartender Guide tells us, the AIRMAIL…
AGGRAVATION 1 oz. Kahlua 1 oz. Scotch (Monkey Shoulder) Milk Fill glass with milk, add ingredients and two ice cubes, stir slowly, and serve. Brian That’s weird, but it’s not bad. It’s the scotch. The scotch is weird. Eric Why is this called the Aggravation? Brian I don’t know. I am in no way aggravated…
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…
AFTER DINNER 1.5 oz. apricot brandy (Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot) 1.5 oz. curaçao (Ferrand Dry Curaçao) 2 oz. lime juice Combine with ice; shake. Strain. Add a twist of lime and ice. Drop in the peel. This week we recorded our tasting notes so we could remember all of the good points. Eric It’s…
The AFFINITY COCKTAIL replaces the dry and sweet vermouth of the AFFINITY with dry sherry and port. The Internet knows nothing about this particular variation, although FinestCall.com says: “Incorporating sherry or port into a Manhattan adds tremendous body, depth of flavor and complexity to the drink. Port is a sensational replacement for sweet vermouth. On the…
The AFFINITY is a Perfect Rob Roy for somebody with a vermouth fetish. A Rob Roy is a Manhattan with Scotch, and a Perfect Rob Roy divides the normal sweet vermouth allocation into equal parts sweet and dry vermouths. But while a proper Perfect Rob Roy usually combines 2 parts Scotch with 1 part vermouth (half dry and…
The ADONIS was created by New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1884 to promote a long-running burlesque show called, well, “Adonis.” Punchdrink.com says “Adonis” is often credited as the first-ever Broadway musical, which makes this cocktail’s history pretty special. Finally, a cocktail with a pedigree. This is our first encounter with a sherry-based cocktail, however, and we are,…
Finally, a drink that isn’t swimming in citrus—but it uses a sweet wine. Don’t get me wrong I like a good sweet wine and Tokay (Tokaji) is one of my favorites, but mixed with bourbon? Pineapple juice? Lemon juice? Okay. Let’s taste what we’re stirring. ADMIRAL HIGHBALL 1.5 oz. Bourbon (Grass Widow) 1.5 oz. Sweet…
ADMIRAL COCKTAIL 1 oz. Bourbon (Grass Widow) 1.5 oz. Dry Vermouth (Dolin) .5 Lemon Combine with ice; shake. Strain. Squeeze in the lemon’s juice, stir, and drop in the peel. Add ice. Why is this a drink!? You cannot taste the booze. I might as well eat a lemon and take a shot of booze….
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….
ADDINGTON 1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth (Carpano Antica) 1.5 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin) Club Soda (Q) Combine everything (except the club soda) with ice and shake. Strain; add ice and club soda. Add a twist of lemon plus the peel. To look at the recipe you would never know the complex subtlety of this drink. At…
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…
ACE .75 oz. gin (Plymouth) .25 oz. grenadine (Jack Rudy) 2 tsp. cream .5 egg white Shake with ice, pour, sprinkle nutmeg, and serve. Hands down this is not a good cocktail. Eric picks up on this right away. I, however, don’t really taste the drink and just slug back a mouthful. My second sip is…
ACAPULCO 1 ¾ oz rum (Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum) ¼ oz triple sec (Pierre Ferrand Curaçao) 1 egg white ½ oz lime juice Sugar to taste Mint leaves Combine with ice; shake into pre-chilled glass. Strain. Add ice and top with one or two mint leaves, partially torn. This looks like a boozy rum sidecar…