Perfect Amaretto Sour

Jeffrey Morganthaler claims this is the Perfect Amaretto Sour:

• 1.50 ounces Amaretto
• 0.75 ounce cask-proof bourbon
• 1.00 ounce lemon juice
• 0.50 ounce egg white, beaten
• 1 tsp of 2:1 simple syrup

Dry shake ingredients to combine, then shake well with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon peel and brandied cherries.

Spoiler, he would be right.

I’ve made well over 100 cocktails at this point and not a single one of them called for Amaretto, an almond-flavored liquor from Italy. I do have a bottle (I think I’ve used it in baking) and I do remember drinking a few Amaretto Sours in my misspent youth. Mainly I associate them with a sweeter, less powerful margarita, and I hadn’t thought of them much until this weekend.

The Bloody Mary

Nothin’ says “day drinkin’” like The Bloody Mary:

• 2 ounces vodka
• 6 ounces tomato juice or V8
• 2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 dash Tabasco Pepper Sauce
• Celery salt Stir alll together in an iced highball glass. Sprinkle celery salt on top. Garnish with a celery stick.

I’ve read that in the early days of cocktails they were consumed in the morning, providing an almost medicinal lift to the rest of the day. Now, at least in Western society, the consumption of alcoholic beverages before noon is frowned upon, and most are expected to wait until after the work day has ended.

Honeysuckle

It contains honey, so why not call it the Honeysuckle::

• 2.00 ounces Flor de Caña Extra-Dry White Rum
• 0.75 lime juice
• 0.75 ounce Acacia Honey Syrup Shake all the ingredients with ice, the strain into a coupe. Garnish with a lime wedge.

I live in North Carolina, USA, where liquor sales are strictly regulated. This is both a source of frustration for me as a vintage cocktail enthusiast as well as a fun challenge. I was finally able to find the rum called for in this drink in Minnesota (the aged or golden Flor de Caña is easy to find but this one is much more difficult).

Philadelphia Fish House Punch (Original Version)

The Original Philadelphia Fish House Punch:

• 0.33 pint lemon juice
• 0.75 pound sugar
• 1.00 pint mixture*
• 2.50 pints cold water

For the mixture:

• 0.25 pint real peach brandy
• 0.50 pint cognac
• 0.25 pint Jamaican rum Stir together in a bowl with ice.

People who like cocktails seem to hold punches in high regard. Heck, there is even an entire book dedicated to them.

I’m a fan, and I kind of wish there was a place near me that still carried on the punch tradition. In the earliest days of cocktails you were not likely to get a made to order drink for yourself. Instead, you would be served a drink out of a communal punch bowl. I’ve been to one place, the Rum Club in Portland, that still does that but it is rare.

Wild Irish Rose

My first cocktail by Dead Rabbit, the Wild Irish Rose:

• 0.75 ounce Pomegranate Syrup
• 1.00 ounce Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey
• 1.00 ounce Laird’s Applejack Bonded Proof
• 1.00 ounce Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
• 0.75 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 3 dashes Bittermens Burlesque Bitters
• 3 dashes Pernod Absinthe
• 1 large egg white

Pre-chill a punch glass. Add all the ingredients to a shaker. Fill with ice and shake. Strain into the punch glass.

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Knickerbocker à la Madame

For something truly vintage and rare, have a Knickerbocker à la Madame:

• 0.50 pint lemon water ice
• 0.50 pint sherry or Madeira
• 1.00 750ml bottle seltzer water
• 0.25 pint shaved ice

Mix the lemon water ice, sherry and seltzer in a soda-water glass. Add the shaved ice.

It definitely qualifies as vintage, as it comes from the book Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks by William Terrington, published in 1869. And through the magic of the Internet, you can actually read the recipe as it was published.

Rusty Nail

Like Smoky Scotch? Have a Rusty Nail:

• 2 ounces good smoky Scotch
• 1 ounce Drambuie

Combine in a small rocks glass on a couple of lumps of ice and swizzle. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I don’t like peaty Scotches. I’m not saying they are bad, it’s just that I don’t care for them. I know that some people seek them out, which has resulted in high peat bottlings such as the Peat Monster, but they just aren’t my thing. De gustibus non est disputandum.