Tarus the Bull

When Justin Peregoy, the cocktail chef at the Oak Leaf, heard we were going there for my birthday he named that night’s special cocktail Tarus the Bull:

• 1.5 ounces Bulleit Rye
• 0.5 ounce blood orange juice
• 0.5 ounce Fernet Branca
• 0.5 ounce cinnamon simple syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Pour the first four ingredients into a bar glass with ice. Stir until cold then strain into a cocktail glass. Add bitters. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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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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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.

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.

Have a Heart Cocktail

Vintage cocktails can call for some odd ingredients. Several in the book reference a liquor called Swedish Punsch. My friend David was kind enough to swing by Binny’s last time he was in Chicago, so I had some on hand and was eager to try it. The first drink I made with it was the Have a Heart Cocktail:

• 1.50 ounces gin
• 0.75 ounce Swedish Punsch
• 0.75 ounce fresh lime juice
• 0.25 ounce real pomegranate grenadine

Shake well in an iced cocktail shaker, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge

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The Straits Sling

Andrea works in a larger city than where we live and they have an ABC store that stocks a greater variety of things. Last night she brought home a bottle of Bénédictine (which I would have to order locally) and so I decided to make a cocktail that featured it: The Straits Sling.

• 2.0 ounces gin
• 0.5 ounce kirschwasser
• 0.5 ounce Bénédictine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• soda water

Shake everything but the soda water in an iced cocktail shaker. Strain into a sour glass or champagne flute. Fill with soda water. Garnish with a cheery, an orange wheel, a lemon twist … go crazy

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