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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…