In a previous blog post we dealt with the subject of cocktail names. You can give a cocktail, or anything for that matter, a fancy intriguing name but none of that matters if the drink is unappetizing. The Complete Bartenders Guide is abundant with amazing cocktail names but (if you’ve been following along) lacking in flavorful cocktails. Once again…
Many sources reachingly attribute the ALLEGHENY cocktail to the brave-hearted pioneer slog over the great Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania. Along the way these pioneers picked blackberries and lemons and then added them to the glorious bourbon they distilled after they settled. Or something like that. By the way, my father loves to ridicule people from…
This week’s recipes require two new ingredients: blackberry flavored brandy and Russian kümmel. Both of these items have the potential to sit ignored on my shelf for years to come and it’s no surprise I can feel my feet dragging behind me these days. Can’t we just skip these drinks or make some intelligent substitutions…
The ALFONSO SPECIAL has some good things going for it in the naming department. Brian may disagree—he has written about cocktail naming before—but I think it the Alfonso Special gets points for having an interesting person or place featured in the name and I like the traditional nature of the “special”, which of course makes one…
One thing this Rituals project has taught me is that a cocktail’s name is actually important. Previously, it didn’t matter much whether the drink was called an Attaboy or a You’re Gonna Get It or a Ronda Rousey (all fictional, by the way). The ingredients were there to speak for themselves, right? Who cared what…
Alexander Young turns out not to be a distant relative of Brandy Alexander at all, yet still shows up at the party. This thing has bourbon, OJ, pineapple juice, grenadine, bitters, and lemon juice in it. Not even close! Oh, we are stupid, so stupid—why are we noticing this list of ingredients now? We scramble…
The Brandy Alexander has its roots in the 19th century but it really came into its own in the 70s. The Brandy Alexander—cognac, cocoa liqueur, and cream—just sounds like the 70s: . You can picture smoke-filled living rooms in which this drink was consumed; you can see the glassware and the chunky jewelry and the…
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…
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,…
Tonight’s session is a low-stakes affair, with only three cocktails on the schedule: the ADONIS, the AFFINITY, and the AFFINITY COCKTAIL. There is port to be purchased and there is dry sherry to be purchased, and once again we are confronted with the utter foolishness of this endeavor. We buy bottle after bottle of obscure…
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…
After spending 3½ weeks working on a movie in New Orleans, I persuaded Brian to let me do a recap of my experiences here—because there were a lot of good ones! During this time I was able to visit 27 establishments; certainly not every bar in New Orleans but a good, obsessive chunk nonetheless. In…
ABSINTHE SUISSESSE 1 ½ oz. absinthe or a substitute (St. George) 1 egg white Several drops of anisette (Rituals DIY, brandy version) and white crème de menthe (Rituals DIY) A few drops of orange flower water (Fee Brothers) Combine with ice; shake well. Strain straight up. The ABSINTHE SUISSESSE is our final absinthe drink in…
ABSINTHE COCKTAIL 1 ½ oz. absinthe or a substitute (Vieux Pontarlier) ¾ oz. water 1 tbs. anisette (Rituals DIY, brandy version) 1 dash orange bitters (Rituals DIY) Combine with ice, shake and pour over shaved ice. This is basically an anise-flavored drink with extra anise-flavored liquor added. It also uses three different kinds of water…
In the world of cocktails there is nothing more Ritualistic than absinthe. After the first session Eric and I are optimistic for the next few drinks in the book, which all contain absinthe. While we are attempting to follow along with the drinks in the book, there are a few we can’t get to because…
ABBEY COCKTAIL 1 ½ oz. gin (Bombay Sapphire) ¾ oz. orange juice ¼ oz. sweet vermouth (Punt E Mes) 1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters (Rituals DIY House Bitters) Combine with ice; shake. Strain, add ice, top with a cherry! This sometimes seems to be referred to as an Abbey Martini; it’s also related to the…
ABBEY 1 ½ oz. gin (Bombay Sapphire) 1 ½ oz orange juice 1-2 dashes orange bitters Combine with ice; shake. Strain over ice; top with a cherry! From CocktailMusings.com: “Reminiscent of oranges, this drink is a mixture of juniper and orange flavors on the tongue, with slight other floral notes pulling through thanks to the…
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,…