Cocktails Continued

My explorations into cocktails and single malt Scotch whisky continue. While I have dedicated another blog to the latter, I feel like in order to keep it un-muddied I should discuss cocktails on this one. Maybe that’s a mistake since people interested in alcoholic beverages will be more likely to be reading the other one. Blog writing conundrum!

Today we call pretty much any mixed drink a cocktail, although we tend to think of cocktails as drinks served up (the ice is strained) in a cocktail glass. This wasn’t always the case. A cocktail used to refer only to a mixed drink containing a spirit, sugar, bitters and water (ice) served up in cocktail glass. Besides cocktails, there are also avenues, brambles, bucks, collins, crustas, cups, daisies, fancies, fixes, fizzes, flips, highballs, pousse cafés, rickeys, shrubs, slings, sours, swizzles, toddies and who knows what else. You should at least understand what a pousse café, highball and toddy is, although frankly the only point of a pousse café is that it’s pretty. (You are currently on the internet; do I really need to teach you everything?)

In the past year, I have delved more thoroughly into Italian, or sweet, vermouth, which, in my last post on this topic, I assumed was pretty much gross unless used appropriately as a mixer. Currently, perhaps the only remaining must-try in this category is the highly-touted Carpano Antica. Interestingly, it is made by the same people who make the Italian vermouth I have settled upon: Punt E Mes. There are those that will immediately question whether Punt E Mes can be called sweet vermouth. Honestly, I don’t know what entails qualifying as “sweet vermouth,” but Punt E Mes is vermouth from Italy that tastes like other sweet vermouths, only a bit more savory. Incidentally, I also include red Dubonnet in the vermouth category, although a not very good one. Yves is another excellent sweet vermouth.

I still stand by Noilly Pratt as THE French, or dry, vermouth, readily acknowledging that I biasedly consider it to be what dry vermouth SHOULD taste like. Remember to keep vermouth refrigerated.

I’ve explored some more cherry liqueurs, and Clear Creek’s kirshwasser is yummy and bounding with cocktail potential. Luxardo’s maraschino liqueur is a must have, irregardless of the obnoxious tall bottle wrapped in straw. At this point, I kind of think Cherry Heering is gross. Although my current bottle is nearly empty, I doubt I’ll buy another.

I am not afraid of flips, or cocktails made with egg, although I’m convinced that any recipe calling for egg yolk is simply a joke or a dare. I tried one- disgusting. Albumen (egg white for the Neanderthals), however, can add a delicious froth to a drink. Always use a small egg or it’ll overwhelm. (I might be the only person in the grocery store who picks through looking for the smallest eggs.) My favorite flip is the Ramos Fizz (recipe below), but other excellent flips include the Pisco Sour, Flying High, St. Germain (different from the liqueur), the original Pink Lady and Million Dollar cocktails.

The point of cocktails, as far as I’m concerned, is to create a gestalt, whereby the sum of the ingredients is totally different from any of the ingredients themselves. This requires a perfect balance where one ingredient does not overwhelm the others. Otherwise the cocktail will end up tasting the same as drinking one ingredient straight. For this reason, one must become familiar with what each ingredient tastes like. Most people have no idea even what gin tastes like.

Fernet Branca and St. Germain are two excellent liqueurs that can be overpowering. The former is mint-y and the latter is flower-y. As with Benedictine and absinthe, you want to cut way back on what most recipes call for, even so far as to simply rinse the glass with them and pour out any excess. People will do this with vermouth too, but vermouth has more subtlety to it and gets lost if you use too little. I suspect most people use crappy vermouth and therefore bury it on purpose.

Up until last week, they didn’t sell an apricot brandy in Portland. After requesting it at Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits at the base of the Broadway bridge on NW Lovejoy (the best place in this town to find liqueurs and also the only liquor store open on Sundays) they got in some Marie Brizzard’s Apry. This is one of many reasons why I can’t stand the liquor store I live across the street from- they scoff at me when I request a product. Too bad for them, considering I’ve been spending thousands a year at other liquor stores. Anyway, my initial reaction is that it is intensely sweet! I’ll have to expound later.

I’ve also recently tried a bunch of tonics, and my favorite is made by Fever-Tree. I still want to learn to make my own. I was disappointed in the tonic made by Stirrings. In fact, the only thing that company makes that’s any good in their grenadine.

Fee Brothers is another disappointing modern company making a variety of lackluster bitters. A German company called The Bitter Truth is the one whose products everyone raves about, but you can’t get it in Oregon. I’ll have to figure out how to buy their stuff online.

Fruit and citrus juices are often nice to have in a cocktail, not only because of the obvious flavor, but also because they act to dilute the drink. Toward the end of the night, I definitely lean toward cocktails with more juice. Always remember that some cocktails are alcohol+alcohol+alcohol. That little bottle of Angostura bitters is 44.7% alcohol/volume. Fancy citrus like meyer lemons and key limes are worthless for cocktail making. I need not reiterate- use fresh-squeezed! I recently spent a week dedicated exclusively to grapefruit and concluded it only works with vodka and in highballs. Pineapple juice (which I don’t squeeze but use 100% juice not from concentrate) is much more versatile.

I want a SodaStream soda machine in hopes that it’ll change my negative opinion of carbonated beverages. But it’s $80.

A personal bias: don’t eat the garnish. It is meant to subtlety enhance the flavor of the drink. This is sometimes psychological; that’s the reason for a celery stalk in a Bloody Mary. The lime wheel on the Doralto described below works the same. Once you understand that the drink has a celery flavor (from the celery salt in the case of the former) or a lime flavor (but no actual lime in the case of the latter), et cetera, I say it’s fine to forego this type of garnish altogether.

One author in a book supposedly about cocktails announced that he had never figured out what a "twist" was, but concluded it didn't matter as it didn't affect the drink. He could not be further from the truth. A citrus twist is added by cutting a long swath of rind, holding the colored side down (pulp side up) over the glass and breaking it in half, spraying rind zest onto the drink. The rind slice is then discarded.

I’ve possibly tried thousands of cocktails, and have found that most of them suck. Also, most books on the subject are total bullshit. I could fill a blog of ignorant stuff I’ve read from them. I whole-heartedly believe the ingredient ratios of most cocktail books have been sabotaged so that the bartender’s drink remains better than the one you make at home. I am pretty good at spotting the flaws and fixing them before I make a drink. Recipes tend to default to equal parts; however I can’t think of ANY cocktail that actually should be equal parts. If that is what the recipe calls for, I assume the author has never made it or else has something to hide, which is better than taking their word for it and tasting something terrible. Another tell-tale sign they‘ve never tried it is if the author’s description of the drink is nothing but a pun on the name. Another funny thing about cocktail recipe books: sweeter drinks meant for the feminine persuasion are often measured relative to the pony (1 oz) while “stronger” drinks are measured relative to the jigger (1.5 oz).
Fortunately the best cocktail book I’ve discovered is also one of the first I came across, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Two classic and sometimes useful cocktail books written for bartenders are The Savoy Cocktail Book and Patrick Gavin Duffy’s The Standard Bartender’s Guide. The website CocktailDB.com is a useful resource.

Also, contrary to what everyone tells you, most liqueurs are not worth buying. In order to save you thousands of dollars and a few headaches, I’ll let you know my top ten favorite cocktails, replete with my preferred brands and perfected ratios.

1) Widow’s Kiss
This is probably my favorite cocktail, but I have a bias toward green chartreuse. I’ve described the Widow’s Kiss as an amusing horror-story in liquid form.

2 oz Laird’s applejack
¾ oz green chartreuse
1 tsp Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass
Garnish with dark cherry

2) Pink Gin
Probably the cocktail I drink the most, in part because it’s easy to make but mostly because it is awesome. I get panicky when my Plymouth gin gets low, as this cocktail cannot be made without it.

3 oz Plymouth gin
½ tsp + 1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass

3) Roll’s Royce
Tastes like fermented oranges, which makes me want to ferment oranges.

1.5 oz Hennessy
¾ oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
¾ oz Cointreau
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass
Garnish with proper orange twist

4) Doralto
Refreshing and delicious. Easily my favorite tequila drink (the margarita ranks third).

1.5 oz 1800 Reposado tequila
1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp sugar (1 sugar cube)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with cracked ice; strain into old-fashioned glass 2/3 filled with ice. Top with tonic water.
Garnish with lime wheel

5) Martini
3 oz London dry gin
½-¾ oz Noilly Pratt dry vermouth
Stirred with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass.
Garnish with proper lemon twist (to bring out gin) or olive (to bring out vermouth).

My favorite gin for martinis might be Tanqueray Ten, although I’ve taken to only purchasing Plymouth and Boodles gin recently. I can’t stand the likes of Hendricks or Bombay sapphire. Shaking this drink makes it cloudy and waters it down too much (unless you are employed as a spy, apparently). No dirty (adding more than one olive or olive juice) martinis or kangaroos (vodka-tinis)! They are both disgusting.

6) Honeymoon
This drink tastes like honey, although that’s not an ingredient. I have yet to meet anybody who doesn’t love this beverage.

1.5 oz Boulard Calvados or Laird’s applejack. (The latter is much cheaper and more versatile in cocktails, although the former tastes better straight, has more complexity and might work a little better in this drink.)
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp Cointreau
1 tsp Benedictine
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass

7) Pegu Club
This could be considered a variation on a margarita. I’m surprised it’s not more popular.

1.5 oz Boodles gin
¾ oz Cointreau
¾ oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
1½ dashes Angostura bitters
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass

8) Vesper
This recipe is detailed in the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. After he’s betrayed by the heroine and the drink’s namesake (sorry to spoil the ending), he vows to never drink one again. A shame, especially considering he went on to help popularize the ruination of the martini.

1.5 oz Boodles gin
1 oz Stoli vodka
½ oz Lillet Blanc
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass
Garnish with proper lemon twist

9) Ramos Fizz
The only drink I’ve found with so many ingredients that still works. Beyond that; it’s fabulous and well worth the effort. The best compliment to Thai food ever! This is a generously proportioned drink and will only fit into a large or Boston shaker.

2 oz Boodles gin
1 egg white
½ oz lime juice
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz cream
2 dashes orange-flower water
1 tsp sugar
Shake VIGOROUSLY with cracked ice for several minutes; strain into old-fashioned glass
Add splash of soda
Garnish with mint sprig

10) 20th Century
This is a dessert-style drink. It is delicately balanced, and if all the ratios aren’t exact it falls apart. But when it’s right, it creates a curious complexity that seems to unravel layer by layer in your mouth.

1.5 oz Boodles gin
¾ oz Lillet Blanc
¾ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp crème de cacao
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass
Garnish with proper lemon twist

Honorable Mention: Hot Toddy
It seems most don’t even know what a toddy is, which makes me wonder what people are drinking all winter. The classic whiskey toddy is: 1.5 oz bourbon (I use Weller’s Reserve), lemon wheel studded with cloves and 1 teaspoon honey topped with hot water. To this I add 1 dash Angostura bitters and 1 teaspoon Cointreau.

Honorable Mention: Sidecar
This is a great drink that the Rolls Royce surely derived from.

1.5 oz Hennessy
¾ oz Cointreau
¾ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Shake with cracked ice; strain into sugar-coated cocktail glass
Garnish with proper lemon twist

Honorable Mention: Maiden’s Prayer
Another drink, like the Pegu Club and Sidecar, that follows the margarita thread. (Margarita: 1.5 ounce 1800 reposado tequila, ¾ ounce Cointreau, ¾ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice; shaken and strained into salt-rimmed cocktail glass.)

1.5 ounce Boodles gin
1.5 ounce Cointreau
¾ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¾ oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
Shake with cracked ice; strain into cocktail glass


This cocktail list is in no way comprehensive. Duh.