The Blue Moon

Having scored some real Creme de Violette, I made The Blue Moon:

• 2.0 ounces gin
• 0.5 ounce Crème Yvette or crème de violette
• 0.5 ounce lemon juice

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

I managed to find some Crème Yvette earlier in this experiment, and I used it in the Aviation. While the taste was fine, I didn’t care for the color. It’s “purple” as in “has a lot of red in it”, versus violet. So when my friend Justin managed to find a source for crème de violette, I was in.

The Mother-In-Law Cocktail

Like bourbon? Have friends who like bourbon? Try the Mother-in-Law Cocktail:

• 1.0 teaspoon Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1.0 teaspoon Angostura Bitters
• 1.0 teaspoon Amer Picon (subsitute Torani Amer)
• 0.5 ounce orange curaçao
• 0.5 maraschino liqueur
• 0.5 ounce simple syrup
• 0.5 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 9.0 ounces bourbon

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into three cocktail glasses.

This is a great drink, but at over three ounces of spirit in each drink, you need friends (real ones, not imaginary) and it helps if they like bourbon.

The French 75

It’s time for champagne, and that means the French 75:

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar or 1 teaspoon simple syrup
• champagne

Shake all but the champagne in an iced cocktail shaker. Pour into a tall glass (a collins glass, a zombie glass or a champagne flute will do – the latter preferred). Top with champagne. Stir gently and garnish with a long, thin lemon spiral and a cocktail cherry.

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The Blackthorn Cocktail

Another Dubonnet drink, the Blackthorn Cocktail:

• 2.00 ounces gin
• 0.75 ounce Dubonnet Rouge
• 0.75 ounce kirschwasser

Stir in a mixing glass with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry and a lemon twist.

This is the third and last cocktail in the book to use Dubonnet Rouge, the first being Arnaud’s Special Cocktail and the second being the Blue Paradise.

This is probably my favorite of the three, but then again how can you go wrong when gin and Dubonnet seems to be a favorite of the Queen. It’s refreshing and not very sweet. The author notes that it is very similar to the Amarosa Cocktail with Dubonnet instead of amaro.

Doctor Cocktail

Not to be confused with the author, here is the Doctor Cocktail:

• 2 ounces Jamaican rum
• 1 ounce Swedish Punsch
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice

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

Salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, rum and lime – some things just go together. Such is the case with the Doctor Cocktail.

This is a tribute to rum and lime. The drink has only three ingredients – those two with the addition of the rum-like Swedish Punsch.

The Secret Cocktail

The Secret Cocktail, also known at The Pink Lady:

• 1.5 ounces dry gin
• 0.5 ounce applejack
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 egg white
• 2 dashes real pomegranate grenadine

Shake it up with all due vigor in an iced cocktail shaker, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve with a cherry

Okay, so as I get close to the end of this experiement – my plan to make every recipe in Ted Haigh’s classic Vintage Spirit’s and Forgotten Cocktails book – I’ve been thinking about the next challenge. I do plan to make the drinks in the “Extra Credit” section, but as I’ve learned more about cocktails in the last year or so I’ve also branched out. I’ve read Wondrich’s Imbibe!, Wilson’s Boozehound, and the amazing Death & Co. recipe book. (Just for completeness, I do own a copy of Liquid Intelligence and I have The Dead Rabbit on my wish list.)

The Filmograph Cocktail

The successful search for another odd ingredient resulted in The Filmograph Cocktail:

• 2.00 ounces brandy
• 0.75 ounce lemon syrup (substitute fresh lemon juice unless you like to drink maple syrup out of the can.)
• 0.50 ounce kola tonic

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

The odd ingredient here is the kola tonic, a staple of South African drinking. The resource guide in the book recommends Rose’s Kola Tonic, which is apparently very common in Canada. I didn’t think it would be that hard to get, since Rose’s Lime Juice is readily available even in my small town, but I was wrong.