Blood and Sand

Not many cocktails today feature Scotch as the spirit, but this wasn’t always the case as is demonstrated by the Blood and Sand:

• 1.00 ounce Scotch
• 1.00 ounce orange juice
• 0.75 ounce cherry-flavored brandy
• 0.75 ounce sweet vermouth

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

There are a couple of vintage cocktails I’ve seen in the wild, and this is one of them. I have had it at least twice but while I found it good it never wowed me. Until now.

East India Cocktail

This one caught my eye because I was looking at the index and saw kind of a large area where I had not chosen a drink. The one in the middle of the empty section was the East India Cocktail:

• 3.0 ounces brandy
• 0.5 ounces raspberry syrup
• one dash Angostura bitters
• one teaspoon orange curaçao
• one teaspoon maraschino liqueur

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

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Soyer au Champagne

While dairy is not an ingredient I associate with cocktails, there are a number of cocktails in the book that feature it, include the Soyer au Champagne:

• 2 dashes maraschino liqueur
• 2 dashes pineapple juice
• 2 dashes orange curaçao (or Grand Marnier)
• 2 dashes brandy
• champagne
• 1 tablespoon vanilla ice cream

In a parfait glass, combine the maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice, orange curaçao and brandy. Fill with champagne. Add the vanilla ice cream on top. Serve with a spoon and a straw.

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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.

Satan’s Whiskers

Over the holiday I managed to get my hands on some authentic curaçao, so I decided to try Satan’s Whiskers:

• 0.5 ounce gin
• 0.5 ounce dry vermouth
• 0.5 ounce sweet vermouth
• 0.5 ounce orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange curaçao
• 1 teaspoon orange bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Back when I made the Park Avenue Cocktail I discovered that there is a difference between orange liqueurs such as curaçao, triple sec and Grand Marnier. Unfortunately, it is apparently impossible to get good curaçao in North Carolina due to its antiquated spirituous liquor laws. The brand Dr. Cocktail recommends, Gabriel Boudier, is even harder to find, as it isn’t available at either Binny’s or Total Wine, but Senior Curaçao (another of his choices) can be had, just not in North Carolina. It’s also cool to note that Senior Curaçao is made on the island of Curaçao, so let’s hope it is authentic.

The Fogcutter (Early)

Here is my third and final attempt at the Fogcutter. This one is from the book and attributed to Don the Beachcomber:

• 2.0 ounces Barcardi Gold rum
• 0.5 ounce Plymouth Gin
• 1.0 ounce Pisco Brandy
• 1.0 ounce orange juice
• 2.0 ounces lemon juice
• 0.5 ounce orgeat syrup
• 0.5 ounce cream sherry

Shake all ingredients except the sherry with ice cubes. Pour into a chimney glass, and add more ice to fill. Float the sherry on top.

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Hanky Panky

I wanted to get back to exploring real vintage cocktails, so I made one from the beginning of the 20th century, the Hanky Panky:

• 1.5 ounces gin
• 1.5 ounces sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Fernet Branca

Stir well with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a small swathe of orange peel over the surface of the drink.

When this cocktail was named, “hanky panky” wasn’t yet a term for sexual mischief. Instead it referred to black magic. When you read the ingredients for this cocktail you might think “bah, it’s just a sweet martini” but, oh, it is so much more. The magic comes from how superb this drink is compared to its simplicity.