I used to travel a lot, and perhaps one day I will again, and in every new town I would often seek out a cocktail bar.
Looking at the menu, I’d try to pick out something that matched my mood at the time and often something I had never had before. If it was really good, I’d ask the bartender for the recipe, which I would write down on whatever scrap of paper I happened to have handy.
Continue readingAnother one from Cuba: the Hotel Nacional Special:
- 3 or 4 (1-inch square) pineapple chunks
- 0.75 ounce lime juice
- 0.50 ounce SC Demerara Syrup
- 0.50 natural apricot liqueur (such as Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur or Gifford Abricot du Roussillon)
- 1.5 ounces blended lightly aged rum
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the pineapple chunks with the lime juice and syrup. Add the apricot liqueur and the rum, then fill with cracked or cubed ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled coupe.
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From Connor at the Oakleaf, it’s the Hermosa Beach:
- 0.50 ounce lime juice
- 0.50 ounce Demerara Syrup
- 2.00 ounces reposado tequila
- 4-6 chunks of strawberry
- 1 large bruised basil leaf
Muddle strawberry and basil in a shaker glass. Add other ingredients and strain over a large cube of ice. Garnish with a small basil leaf.
This is a fine drink that lends itself to a lot of off-topic comments.
First, this demonstrates what I love about true craft cocktails. I often refer to people who make them as “cocktail chefs” instead of bartenders, although there is absolutely nothing wrong with the term “bartender”, it’s just that I want to illustrate what goes in to a great cocktail recipe. In this case it is seasonal ingredients like the strawberries and fresh basil. Just as chefs will use nature as a template for meals, a good bartender will look toward the same sources for inspiration.
Continue readingA new classic, it’s the Whoa Nellie!:
- 1.25 ounces rye
- 0.75 ounce dark rum
- 0.75 ounce Cointreau
- 4 dashes Angostura bitters
- 0.50 ounce lemon juice
- 0.50 ounce grapefruit juice
- 0.50 ounce simple syrup
Combine all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
My friend Ben and I share a fondness for whiskey, and together we have a decent collection. Unfortunately, we live more than an hour apart, so it made sharing them difficult until we decided we could just bring them to work. Thus “Whiskey Monday” (#whiskeymonday) was born.
Continue readingCourtesy of the Cocktail Wonk, it’s the Golden Gun:
- 0.75 ounce lime juice
- 0.50 ounce grapefruit juice
- 0.50 ounce SC Demerara Syrup
- 0.50 ounce natural apricot liqueur (such as Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur or Gifford Abricot du Roussillon)
- 1.00 ounce blended aged rum
- 1.00 ounce blended lightly aged rum
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Fill a Collins or highball glass with cracked or cubed ice. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with cracked or cubed ice. Shake and strain into the glass. Your choice of garnish.
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From Smuggler’s Cove comes Planter’s Punch:
- 1.00 ounce lime juice
- 0.75 ounce SC Demerara Syrup
- 0.25 ounce St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
- 3.00 ounces blended aged rum (Jamaica)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Combine all ingredients in a drink mixer tin with 12 ounces of crushed ice and 4 to 6 “agitator” cubes. Flash blend and then open pour with a gated finish into a Collins or highball glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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The Dead Rabbit version of the Straits Sling:
- 0.50 ounce Lemon Sherbet
- 1.50 ounces Bols Genever gin
- 0.50 ounce Cherry Herring
- 0.50 ounce Benedictine
- 0.50 ounce kirsch eau de vie
- 0.75 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 3 dashes Dead Rabbit Orinoco Bitters or Angostura Aromatic Bitters
- 1.50 ounces rhubarb soda
- Fresh nutmeg, grated, for garnish Add all the ingredients, except the soda and garnish, to a shaker. Fill with ice and shake. Strain into an ice filled tall glass. Add the soda and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.
This is my second recipe from the Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual, which is more a book of alchemy than recipes.
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