The Fred Collins Fiz

With lemonade from England I was finally able to make the Fred Collins Fiz:

• 2.0 ounces bourbon or rye whiskey
• 0.5 ounce simple syrup
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon orange curaçao
• 6.0 ounces lemonade

Mix the bourbon, simple syrup, and lemon juice in an iced cocktail shaker and shake. Strain into a large bar glass that is half filled with shaved (or finely crushed) ice. Add the curaçao. Pour the lemonade into a collins glass and port the contents of the bar glass into it.

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The Liberal

Even though I have a lot a gin drinks in the queue, I wanted a whiskey drink so I made The Liberal:

• 0.75 ounce 100-proof Wild Turkey
• 0.75 ounce Italian vermouth (Carpano Antica)
• 3 dashes Torani Amer
• 1 generous dash orange bitters

Stir energetically in an iced mixing glass, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

I was recently in a cocktail class where the instructor asked for everyone’s favorite cocktail, explaining that his was the Manhattan.

The Derby

In honor of American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown, I decided to make The Derby:

• 1.00 ounce bourbon
• 0.50 ounce sweet vermouth
• 0.50 ounce orange curaçao
• 0.75 ounce fresh lime juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a mint leaf.

Growing up I didn’t think winning the Triple Crown of horse racing was a big deal. In the span of six years, from 1973 to 1978, three horses did it.

The Lion’s Tail

In order to try Allspice Dram, I decided to make The Lion’s Tail:

• 2.00 ounces bourbon
• 0.75 ounce Allspice Dram (or less, to taste)
• 0.50 ounce fresh lime juice
• 0.50 tablespoon simple syrup (or less, to taste)
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a 5-ounce cocktail glass.

Let me state for the record that I am not a cocktail expert. I am simply on a journey of exploration and discovery led by people like Dr. Cocktail (Ted Haigh), David Wondrich and Jason Wilson. I love being exposed to new flavors and combinations found in classic cocktails, and this was the first time I had ever heard of Allspice Dram.

The Seelbach Cocktail

Champagne is tightly associated with New Year’s, and it also happens to be an ingredient in classic drinks such as the Seelbach Cocktail:

• 1.0 ounce bourbon (venerable Old Forester was specified)
• 0.5 ounce Cointreau
• 7 dashes Angostura bitters
• 7 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 5.0 ounces champagne

Pour the bourbon, Cointreau and bitters into a champagne flute and stir. Add the champagne. Stir again, and garnish with an orange twist.

This drink was named for the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and was created in 1917. The recipe was lost during Prohibition but rediscovered in 1995, so I am certain this qualifies as vintage.

The Boulevardier

Of the 87 or so recipes in the book, I’ve seen a handful of them in the wild. This is one of them.

According to the text, the cocktail was the signature drink of Erskine Gwynne who was an “expatriate writer, socialite and nephew of railroad tycoon Alfred Vanderbilt”. Gwynne edited a magazine called The Paris Boulevardier, hence the name.

• 1.5 ounce bourbon
• 1 ounce Campari
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth

Stir long and well with ice in a mixing glass and then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

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The Avenue

I almost wanted to call this drink “The Amazon” since I had to order most of the ingredients on-line.

• 1 ounce bourbon
• 1 ounce Calvados
• 1 ounce passion fruit juice or nectar
• 1 dash real pomegranate grenadine
• 1 dash orange flower water

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a glass. Garnish with a carnation boutonnière

The author found this recipe in a book called the Café Royal Cocktail Book (1937). Times were different 70 years ago, and I hope that it is okay that I left off the boutonnière garnish.