Category Archives: Cocktails

My favorite thing about this cocktail is that it makes inexpensive Calvados taste like a million bucks.  Calvados is an apple brandy with its own appellation in France, just like Cognac or Armagnac.  We can get into the specifics of Calvados at a later date, but for now I’ll say it’s my favorite thing made from apples and it does wonders for re-awakening your appetite.

Yellow Chartreuse, Calvados, Benedictine and bitters. Mmm, mmm good.

If the name didn’t give it away, this is one of Ted Haigh’s forgotten cocktails. 

1-1/2 oz Calvados, 3/4 oz Benedictine, 3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Combine all ingredients over ice, shake, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a cherry.

The yellow (versus green) Chartreuse is an important distinction in this cocktail, because the yellow is more mild and has a touch more sweetness.    The Benedictine, in addition to the Chartreuse, adds just the right amount of herbaceousness.  The apple notes of the Calvados, though, are what come out on top here – clean, crisp; like you’re up a ladder picking your own apples in an orchard. 

The finish of this drink seems to last forever – eerily so.  Maybe that’s where the name comes from.

Yup, only 2 ingredients in this cocktail.

This is not a cutesy drink in honor of Valentine’s Day weekend.

After sampling this cocktail, it made perfect sense that it had been created by the British Royal Navy.  Some say they were trying to find a way to make Angostura bitters more pleasant to drink, since the bitters had been shown to ease seasickness.  My guess is that someone on a boat in the middle of the ocean wouldn’t argue much when it came time to receive his booze ration.  Regardless, the Navy brought the idea to bars in Britain and it stuck.

I’ve seen several variations of this cocktail; some are 1 part gin to 1 part bitters, some are topped off with iced water or tonic, some suggest a lemon peel garnish.  If a bartender asks you if you’d like it “in or out”, the “it” (you dirty bird) is the bitters – picture swirling vermouth in your glass before dumping it out while making a martini.

I used the recipe from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails:

3 oz. Plymouth Gin
6 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake with ice and strain.  No garnish.

I happen to like both gin and bitters, yet I bet some of you are cringing upon reading this recipe.  Something pretty special happens when you mix these two, though, and I suggest you give it a shot.

A take on the Bee’s Knees, the Bebbo is a very satisfying cocktail.  While it may not mean the cat’s pajamas, it’s herbaceous and tart on the attack, full and round on the palate, and finishes with a lingering sweetness from the honey.

1 1/2 oz. gin (I used Seneca Drums), 1 oz. fresh lemon juice, 1/2 oz. honey, 2 teaspoons o.j.. Stir all ingredients (without ice) until honey is dissolved, add ice, shake and strain into chilled glass. Garnish with a cherry (mine sunk to the bottom).

 If you have trouble getting the honey to dissolve, you can heat it slightly before using it.  If you hadn’t guessed already, this is another drink I wanted to try from Ted Haigh’s book.

Yesterday felt like Christmas – a snow day in the middle of the week!  

On 1st Ave and 8th St. at the new “V Bar” (in the old Tribe space) we found a cozy spot with great big windows where we could enjoy the snow as well as some cocktails. 

A deep puddle of icy water was hiding under the snow on that very corner and feeling like a kid again because of the snow day, one of my favorite childhood poems came to mind:

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Of course, this sidewalk ended with a deep pool of slush soaking the feet of unlucky pedestrians.  Remember, this is NYC.

On Tuesday afternoons, I’ll often go down to the bar and mix cocktails with Gene.  Today, I taped him making a Barbara West cocktail. 

I realize now that I should have given more commentary as he’s making the drink.  It seemed very loud in the restaurant at the time, but I come through loud and clear.

We sourced the recipe from Ted Haigh’s book:

2 oz. gin (we used Seneca Drums)
1 oz. Sherry (we used Lustau Amontillado)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

I can’t seem to find much on the etymology of this cocktail, though Ted notes you could order a “Creole with bitters” and end up with a Barbara West.  On the CocktailDB, I found a recipe for a Barbara East.

Gene’s comments at the end of the video about the drink being tart are because we had just finished making a Bebbo Cocktail before taping (more on this later).  An easy way to play around with this drink would be to change the Sherry.  Amotillado is dry and nutty and worked well, but I could see substituting an East India or an Oloroso style if you were looking for a touch more sweetness.

In preparation for Saturday’s Martini Bowl at Union Square Wines, I’ve been doing some experimenting.

Which garnish will come out on top - the peel of an orange, lime or lemon or something else all together?

Which vermouth will come out on top? Notice there's no Italian representation.

It’s odd that no one can agree on the origins of the most popular cocktail.  In his latest book, David Wondrich presents four different theories, ranging from The Jerry Thomas Theory (that Jerry, while working in San Francisco, made the drink for someone headed east to Martinez who had asked for something new), dubbed “exremely unlikely” to The Judge Martine Theory (that Judge Martine invented it at New York’s Manhattan Club), which he called “possible, but not proven”.

The style of the martini has changed over the years, becoming drier over time.  Pre-Prohibition recipes were usually equal parts gin and vermouth or a 2 parts gin to 1 part vermouth ratio.  Pre-World War II recipes often called for a 4 to 1 gin to vermouth ratio, while post-World War II ratios crept up to 15 to 1. 

My Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits says that the Martinez Cocktail is the earliest martini-esque recipe they could find.

1 dash bitters
2 dashes (1 tsp) maraschino liqueur
1 pony (1 oz.) Old Tom gin
1 wineglass (2 oz.) vermouth
2 small lumps of ice

Shake thoroughly and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a quarter slice of lemon and if the guest prefers it sweet, add 2 dashes of gum syrup.

Is it better to shake or stir? Serve it up or on the rocks? Shaved ice while shaking?

You’ll have to stop by on Saturday to see what we decided to go with, but in the meantime, we can all agree on the beautiful relationship between gin and vermouth.

Blood and Sand was a silent film released in 1922, starring Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee and Nita Naldi.  The hero is a matador and there’s a love triangle.  Olé! 

It was based on the 1909 Spanish novel Sangre y arena by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.  Ibáñez shot a version himself in 1916 and others were made in 1941 and 1991.

Xena: The Warrior Princess’s new series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” is not related. 

What I’m excited about is the cocktail that was inspired by the 1922 version. 

This is yet another goodie I found in my Ted Haigh book.  Coincidentally, I recieved sample bottles of the Finger Lakes Distilling cherry liqueur today.  For all of you bartenders out there using Cherry Heering, you gotta try this!

Scotch cocktails should be more popular.  Sure, everyone knows the Rusty Nail (Scotch, Drambuie) and the Rob Roy (a Manhattan using Scotch instead of rye or bourbon), but people assume if they’re not Scotch drinkers, they won’t like Scotch cocktails.

You could use this one to prove them wrong.

1 oz. Scotch (I used Dewar's), 1 oz. orange juice, 3/4 oz. cherry liqueur (I used Finger Lakes Distilling), 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (I used Dolin). Combine all ingredients over ice, shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a cherry.

I poured it for two regulars sitting at the bar.  One commented, “it’s nice and tart”.  The other said, “I don’t usually drink cocktails, but I could drink this.  I’m picturing myself in a Hawaiian shirt, with no shoes on, sitting on the beach.”

My work here is done.

Today I present another oldie-but-goodie from Ted Haigh’s book.  Though it’s called the Ford Cockail, it’s been around since 1895.

1 ounce Old Tom Gin (I used Hayman's), 1 ounce dry vermouth (I used Dolin), 3 dashes Benedictine, 3 dashes orange bitters (I used Regan's). Combine over ice and stir. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.

It may have been named after Malcom Webster Ford, a famed athlete who in 1885 and 1886 was the winner at the National Championships of the long jump, 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash, otherwise known as a triple.  This feat was not accomplished again until Carl Lewis did it in 1983.  Maybe he was looking forward to consuming this delightfully simple tipple after the event.

The Statler Hotel at Cornell is going to support Finger Lakes Distilling and someone on their team recently inquired about a “Big Red Martini” featuring Vinter’s Wildberry vodka.

I began brainstorming “red” items: muddled berries (out of season), cranberry juice (boring), cinnamon schnapps (yes, Goldschlager is still in production) and then I remembered a drink I had made awhile back featuring gin and ruby red grapefruit juice, called the Ruby Blossom.

I shared my challenge with bartender Gene Jacobs and he quickly whipped up 2 cocktails.

Tuesday afternoon fun at the L'Ecole bar

In the foreground is the Ruby Blossom, all proportions the same, sub Wildberry for gin.  In the background is an as yet unnamed Wildberry special:

2 oz. Wildberry vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. blood orange juice
splash simple syrup
splash fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients over ice and shake.  Strain into chilled up glass and garnish with an orange peel. 

Granted, neither of these drinks are red, but they taste good.  Big Red Blossom?  Maybe we’ll leave the naming up to the Statler.