Sorry. One Per Customer.

I have a regular who likes the Mai Tai. He used to come in and have a few. After a while he decided he'd like it if he could have his entire nights supply of Mai Tai in one glass. A traditional Mai Tai is a potent drink, but Bobby's Mai Tai is definitely "one per customer."











Bobby's Mai Tai.

2 oz Bacardi Superior Light Rum
2 oz Appleton Extra Jamaica Rum
1 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz Orgeat Syrup
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Hart Demerara Rum

Build over ice in a pint glass, saving the Lemon Hart rum to float on top. Garnish with a large lime wedge.

Sip this one slowly. Don't forget to stop by Kaiser Penguin to see this months posts. Remember, you can only have one.

Mixology Monday - Variations Wrap-up

Thanks to everyone for participating in this month's Mixology Monday. My inbox
was absolutely flooded with links to all the great posts.

One guy in Oregon really knows how to bring his name to the top of the list. He spends a few paragraphs just talking about how great I am. What a guy! Before I get to him though, I wanted to mention a few of the first-timers.

Esquire magazine has re-tooled the awesome Drinks Database and Dave Wondrich has started a new Esquire Drink Blog with a Mixology Monday post on the Hot Pink Handgun.

First timer Sunday Cook, takes the pain out of tax time with the AMT Cocktail.

Felicia's Atomic Lounge's first Mixology Monday post includes the most interesting Cosmo recipe I've seen.

Brian at avenue food brings the 1794 which is a cool San Francisco
variation on the Manhattan.

Before I get to that great guy in Oregon I wanted to run through a few of the veterans as well:

Cameron and Anita bring out Hot Toddy's in all their variations.

Anna Volena presents the variations of Lillet. MetaGrrrl also brings out the Lillet for the BYP and a few of Chuck's variations also call for Lillet.

Jay explores the degrees of separation.
I must be connected to Jay by somewhat less than six degrees.

Bunnyhugs.org gets into the spirit with a riff on the classic G&T.

East meets west via Dr. Bamboo. The good doctor provides another stunning illustration as well.

Darcy's done it again. His Tequila Maria sounds really good and showcases his creative skill perfectly.

TraderTiki has got a rundown on Mai Tai variations. Craig's got an awesome photo and another group of tiki variations.

Doug over at the Pegu Blog has an entry that involves bottles that wear little hats!

Anna from Morsels and Musings provides an interesting tweak on the Sidecar. (My post also looked at several Sidecar recipes.)

Lance refers to some of the variations being explored by the new Oregon Bartenders Guild.

Ten, count 'em, ten variations on the Gin Fizz.

Variations on the Blue Blazer by Ian.

Haalo provides a variation on the Cosmo.

Scomorokh presents the Long Island Iced Tea and all the variations thereof.

Robert wants to have the last word, his way.

Cynthia's got all the details on the Brandy Alexander, and includes a video.

That guy who goes around insulting other cocktail writers (and founder of a little thing called Mixology Monday by the way) features the Oaxaca Old Fashioned. RumDood also brings us something Old Fashioned.

Jamie Boudreau and Jacob Grier both take a look at one of my favorites.

The Scofflaw's Den has some sunrise variations and a bronx cocktail and a Suffering Bastard.

The ladies of LUPEC Boston are extremely excited about the new availability of Creme de Violette.

The Opinionated Alchemist, AKA Dominik MJ, brings out the "lady" drinks.

[I screwed that up good.]
Sonja covered all the "Lady" drinks at Thinking of Drinking.

The opinionated alchemist has the gorgeous OP|AL Basin Street Cocktail.

A variation on the Maiden's Prayer:

Keith enhances the bitter in his Negroni .

Before I get to that top guy, I wanted to bring in all the posts that Erik has collected from eGullet members:

Katie Loeb, (aka KatieLoeb,) making a variation on the Moscow Mule,
called the Mumbai Mule.

Janet Zimmerman, (aka JAZ,) making a variation on the Last Word called
the Closing Remark.

Mike S. made a variation on the Rusty Nail called the Silver Nail.

Erik Ellestad, (aka eje,) made a variation on the Bull-Dog called the
Dozier Cooler.

Andy Arrington, (aka thirtyoneknots,) made a variation on the
Floradora he calls The Floradora, Imperial Style.

Dave Scantland, (aka Dave the Cook,) made a variation on the Paradise
cocktail called the Paradise Regained.

Bonus midnight Sidecar variation from Andy Arrington.

So that's it. Thanks to everyone who participated in this month's Mixology Monday.
Oh yes, before I forget, Jeffrey Morgenthaler's post is here. Thanks for saying all that nice stuff about me, Jeff.

Mixology Monday: Brandy

This was an original recipe I submitted for a recent Campari competition. I've posted it here before, but I'm revisiting it for Mixology Monday::Brandy










Compass Rose

1.5 oz Cognac
.75 oz Campari
.25 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 Dash of Fee's whiskey barrel aged bitters

Try out this one if you get a chance. Let me know what you think, and tell me your favorite Campari recipes in the comments section. In February, Mixology Monday will be right here at the cocktail hour, so check back for that. This month's event is hosted by Marleigh at Sloshed!

Mixology Monday: Wrap-up part II

Jeffrey Morgenthaler is off promoting Repeal Day in Manhattan this week and couldn't finish up the Mixology Monday Recap. Since he asked me to finish it up for him, I provide the following:

Mixology Monday Wrap-up Part II

Matt, also known as Dood, gives us the background on Prohibition and rum runners, with a couple of excellent rum runner recipes thrown in. Nice one, Dood!.

Jamie Boudreau offers up a Volstead cocktail, the Roosevelt, and a wild original prohibition-style cocktail.

Jay at oh gosh! explores the Manhattan, breaking out several formulations, and some pretty spectacular rye whiskies. I'm glad Jay participated, even though the temperance movement never took hold in the UK.


The ladies at lupec bring The Stork Club Cocktail to the party.
http://lupecboston.blogspot.com/2007/12/stork-club.html

First-time mixology monday participants Fizz, Flip and Fancy create some martini "jelly" and a gorgeous Ramos Gin Fizz.

Sonja slides in under the deadline with the Mr. Manhattan and Jupiter cocktails.

Marleigh at Sloshed sneaked in a little past the deadline, but it was still Monday somewhere. (It must be 4 o'clock somewhere right now, as a matter of fact) Marleigh covers the Leave It To Me #1, with a few tweaks.

Jacob Grier pushes out the boat on his first Mixology Monday posting, with a recipe for a Godson Cocktail with a tobacco cream float. Wow.


Dominik, The Opinionated Alchemist, posts to remind us of some of the responsibilities we take on when we choose to consume.

I offered the recipe for a Silver Gin Fizz AND a great holiday gift idea at the same time.

Father of Mixology Monday, Paul Clarke, brings a carboy full of bathtub gin and the David Embury version of the Bees Knees.

EDIT:
I forgot to add these three:

Kaiser Penguin frames up more excellent photos, and recipes for the Brace Up and the Thomas and Jeremiah.

Intoxicated Zodiac posted something here, but I was unable to contact the server to see what it was. I'm sure it will come back up. Probably overloaded the server with Mixology Monday traffic.

A Dash of Bitters has some information about temperance groups past and present.


Thanks go out to everyone who participated in this months Mixology Monday.
Part I of the wrap-up can be found over at Jeffrey's site.

The Bacardi Special

This month's Mixology Monday is being hosted by Jay over at Oh, Gosh! The topic this time around is "gin." Since gin is the no-holds-barred, most mixable spirit out there, I am anxious to see all the posts.

Gin is so mixable in fact, I'm going to look at it in a rum drink! I know what you're thinking. "You'd have to be some kinda Jeffrey Morgenthaler to try something like that, right?" Wrong.

A Bacardi cocktail is basically a Daiquiri that uses Grenadine in place of simple syrup. It also must contain Bacardi rum, but that's whole different story.

Here's the basic recipe for the Bacardi Cocktail.

Bacardi Cocktail
1.5 oz Bacardi Light
juice of half a lime
2 teaspoons grenadine

This is a fine cocktail, and it was all the rage in the thirties but there is a problem. The problem is that the Bacardi Cocktail doesn't have any gin in it, and with Gin being this month's theme, I need to move on. The Bacardi Special is a variation on the Bacardi Cocktail. The special part comes when you add a measure of gin to the standard recipe.

Bacardi Special
1.5 oz Bacardi Light
.75 oz gin
juice of half a lime
2 teaspoons grenadine

Shake over ice and double-strain into a cocktail glass.

The addition of gin in the Bacardi Special gives the cocktail an added complexity, an exotic flavor that ties the drink together. I've also been experimenting with the new Pama Pomegranate Liqueur from Heaven-Hill. Substituting the Pama for grenadine works really well here. It beats the heck out of the common sickly-sweet grenadines, and rivals a good homemade grenadine.




Bacardi Special (Variation)
1.5 oz Bacardi Light
.75 oz gin
.5 oz Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
juice of half a lime
barspoon simple syrup

Shake over ice and double-strain into a cocktail glass.

The Pama smells fresh, and has a good tart pomegranate bite. To balance the tartness of the limes and pomegranate, I use a barspoon of simple syrup. This cocktail has a gorgeous pale red color and a crisp, sophisticated flavor. This recipe will serve two if reasonably-sized cocktail glasses are used.

The gin and rum play well together here and I think there's plenty of room for experimenting along these lines. I think gin will mix well with anything. Don't forget to check the wrap-up at Oh, Gosh! for all the Mixology Monday details.

Picon Punch

I've been working on a bitters recipe lately, for the upcoming Bitters Exchange (more details to come). My underground lab has been full of strange herbs and spices including Bitter Orange, gentian, cinchona and even tonka bean. I've even been combing the local forests for some artemisia californica for someone else's bitters recipe.

This Month's Mixology Monday is hosted by Gabriel over at cocktailnerd. The theme is "fizz." Since I've been preoccupied with bitters, I thought I'd cover a traditional basque fizz, the Picon Punch.

One of the key ingredients in the original recipe is Amer Picon, a type of bitters based on bitter orange and gentian. Amer Picon is no longer widely available, at least in it's original form. It seems at some point in the past, the Amer picon went from 78 proof to 39 proof. The best substitute for the original Amer Picon is Torani Amer. The consensus view seems to be that the Torani product is more like traditional Amer Picon than the current version Amer Picon. The Torani product seems to be more widely available as well.

Picon Punch

2 ounces Torani Amer
2 - 3 dashes of real grenadine
Soda water
Lemon peel

Dash some real pomegranate grenadine into a tall glass. Swirl to coat the glass and fill with ice. Add 2 ounces of Torani Amer and top off with 1 - 2 ounces soda. Twist a large swath of lemon peel over the top.

Cable Car

The Cable Car is a modern classic. The brilliant orange-copper color and a rich, complex flavor have made the Cable Car a favorite of many bartenders. This Sidecar variation has appeared on cocktail lists everywhere. The deceptively simple recipe was created in San Francisco by Tony Abou-Ganim.


Cable Car

2 oz. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
1 oz. Orange Curacao
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice

Stir over ice and strain into a cinnamon/sugar rimmed cocktail glass.

I like my Cable Car to be crystal clear, but I think if you get one of these at one of Tony's bars, you'll get some Frothee in it. Frothee provides a creamy texture and a frothy head. But Frothee contains Propylene Glycol, and I'm not a big fan of having Propylene Glycol in my cocktails. If you like a frothy head and creamy texture, you can add the following to the recipe instead.

optional: 1/2 teaspoon egg white.
(shaken not stirred, in this case)

If you live in a control state like Pennsylvania, and you can't find any spiced rum close at hand, you can make your own. Here is the Kaiser Penguin Spiced Rum recipe. (Rick came up with this in about ten seconds, it may require a few minor adjustments.)

The Kaiser Penguin Spiced Rum

Take 4 oz. amber rum
Pour into a jar you can seal
Add 2 cinnamon sticks
5 pepper corns
2 whole nutmeg
8 allspice
6 cloves
shake like mad for 2 minutes
and strain through cheese cloth.

Rick made a Cable Car with his homemade Spiced Rum and pronounced it interesting.

"Wow," he said "the orange, cloves, and spices are paired well with the lemon juice!"

Deceptively simple.

Chow.com also has a spiced-rum recipe for the do-it-yourself types and residents of PA.

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday is Orange. The host is Gwen over at the Intoxicated Zodiac blog. Check in over there for the full wrap-up. Special thanks to Kaiser Penguin for the inspiration and the last minute Spiced Rum recipe.

Tequila Bramble

The Bramble is a modern classic. It was invented at Fred's Club in SoHo by Dick Bradsell, and has made it's way onto just about every cocktail list in London. It's also made it's way across the Atlantic to North America. I was intrigued by the Bramble, and asked cocktail historian supreme George Sinclair to give me the lowdown. George went above and beyond and provided a full write-up. Thanks very much, George.

One of the variations George mentioned was the tequila version. I thought this would be perfect for this month's Mixology Monday.

Tequila Bramble

1.5 oz tequila
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
.75 oz creme de mure

Build first three ingredients over crushed ice. Stir, then float the creme de mure on top. Garnish with a lemon slice. If you can't find creme de mure, George suggests substituting another berry liqueur such as Chambord or Creme de Cassis. (I used .5 oz lime juice, and George uses .75 in his recipe. You may need to adjust the amount based on the limes you have.)

Another variation I've been working on is a tropical variant on the same theme.

Tropical Fix


1.5 oz Partida Reposado Tequila
.75 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz agave nectar
.5 oz passion fruit syrup

Build the first three ingredients over crushed ice. Stir, then float the passion fruit syrup on top. I like the way passion fruit plays well with a nice reposado tequila. I use more lime juice in this recipe to balance the sweetness of the agave nectar and the passion fruit syrup.

Matt over at My Bar, Your Bar is hosting this month's Mixology Monday. It's all about tequila, stop by and check out all this month's entries.

Mixology Monday: 14

This month's Mixology Monday is being hosted over at Married... with Dinner. The theme this time is champagne. I came up with a champagne cocktail called the 'French Quarter' for the Tales of the Cocktail competition. The competition is today, so I won't publish my recipe until later in the week.

Tickets for Tales of the Cocktail are available now, so make your plans and get your tickets now.

Mixology Monday XII:: Wrap-up

It's taken me a while to get it done, but here's the wrap-up from another successful Mixology Monday. I think I've got everyone who submitted a post for MM listed here and I've include a few other links that were either related to our topic, or posted on Monday and peripherally related. Here we go:

Whiskey.

Matt, over at My Bar, Your Bar has picked up some Wild Turkey Rye Whiskey to experiment with and has come up with a variation on a boomerang. He found the results pleasing, and it sounds pretty good to me as well.

Thinking Bartender and cocktail researcher extraordinaire George Sinclair looks at the influence of Dick Bradsell on the UK scene, and includes a recipe and some background on the Manhattan.

Michael Dietsch from A Dash of Bitters presents the High Hat based on Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey. He also explores the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, and throws together a concoction to avoid. Good job Michael if you're not falling down on occasion, you're not trying.

The EGullet community has contributed several recipes in the Mixology Monday threads for this month. This one covers the Red Feather Boa, Metropole, Bob Tailed Nag, Suburban, and more.

Phil used Rittenhouse Bonded Rye Whiskey in the Sons of Baracktail cocktail. The recipe is something like: “Blah, blah de blahdy da, rye, blah blah, juice, blah blah.” You'll have to get over there and read the post for all the details.

Paul at Cocktail Chronicles has been exploring Rye Whiskey lately, and stays with it for the Colleen Bawn . Rye, Chartreuse and Benedictine sound like a powerful combination.

Rick at Kaiser Penguin gives us the Adam and Eve, using Elmer T. Lee Bourbon. He also takes a look at Difford's Guide and several other recipes. Another classic picture too!

Kurt provides us with the recipe for the Liberal, which he figures is a variation of the classic Manhattan. This is a good one to try if you're looking for a few more places to use Amer Picon.

Whisky.

Seamus covers whisky and whiskey. He also throws in an interesting original recipe with ideas for modifications. If Our Language Was Whiskey.

In my post, I mentioned that someone else had gone in the direction I had. In an example of "great minds think alike" (or sheer coincidence) Darcy has posted his version of the Rye-Tai. (I used whiskey and he used whisky.)

Haalo at Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once has posted a nice looking little cooler called the Canadian Summer. I'm not sure if Canadian Club is whisky or whiskey. Take a look at the great picture, try the recipe, and check out Paalo's vintage coaster! (and leave a comment about the coaster)

Outside of Mixology Monday.

Robert Hess isn't doing Mixology Monday this time, but on Monday he posted about Applejack, an original America "whiskey."

Eric Asimov at The Pour isn't doing Mixology Monday either, but he recently covered Bourbon, Moonshine and the ATF regulations.

Next Time.

The next Mixology Monday is scheduled for March 12th and hosted at Saving the World, One Drink at a Time . Keep track of all the upcoming events at Paul's main Mixology Monday page.

MMXII::Bergeron Cocktail (Rye-Tai)

Mixology Monday is back, this time with the theme "whisk(e)y." Everyone is sending in their posts now and I'll be writing the recap over the next day or so. Check back here for the full listing of posts. On to the Bergeron Cocktail.

The original recipe Mai Tai is one of my favorite cocktails. Made well, the depth of flavors and complexity can be unequaled. "Trader Vic" Bergeron's original recipe calls for Wray & Nephew 17-year-old rum. This element is nearly unobtainium. A few prized bottles were recently released in the UK, but other than those few bottles, it is hard to find. I wanted to explore some alternatives.

I thought that using rye whiskey might make an interesting variant. The relative lack of interest in rye over the past 20 years has had an interesting effect on the market. A lot of rye sat in the warehouses, for a long time. Now there are a lot of interesting, aged rye whiskies available. And they can be really nice. I like the 18-year-old Sazerac Rye, and I thought it would be an excellent candidate for my Rye Tai cocktail.

Here's my recipe:

Bergeron Cocktail
1.5 oz Sazerac 18 yr rye whiskey
1 oz Bacardi light rum
1 oz orange curacao
.5 oz lime juice
.25 oz orgeat syrup

Shake with ice and strain over crushed ice into a chimney. Garnish with a generous sprig of mint and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

The availability of so many interesting rye whiskies has turned rye into one of the next "hot categories." People are starting to ask about rye, but aren't always sure what to order. Right now, I'm using rye whiskey The Sazerac, The Old-Fashioned, and Manhattans, but for an interesting variant on a classic, try my Bergeron Cocktail recipe.

(As a side note, one of the benefits of being the host, is you get to see everyone's write-ups as soon as they are done. As I was working on my post, I got a note from another participant. It seems that the idea for a rye-mai-tai wasn't as unique as I thought, we've got another one. Come back for the wrap up and check out the other rye-tai recipe, as well as all the other great Mixology Monday posts.)

Mixology Monday XII

It's my turn again. I'll be hosting Mixology Monday XII here at the cocktail hour on Monday, February 12th. The theme this time is whisk(e)y. I won't say too much more about the subject, but notice your whisk(e)y can have an "e" but doesn't need to. Start mixing and tasting and get ready to post something on Monday the 12th. After you post, let me know here in the comments or send me an e-mail. I'll post the wrap-up a few days later. Thanks!

Oxford University Hot Rum Punch

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday is winter warmers. I was thinking of coffee drinks, but since we already did coffee in an earlier Mixology Monday, I wanted to cover something else. I wanted to go old school.

I was looking for a good recipe when I came across this one in Charles Baker's Gentleman's Companion. I thought this would make a great winter warmer, and Baker says it is “most excellent for anyone coming down with anything...” That sounded just about right for the cold weather we've been having.

Oxford Universiy Hot Rum Punch

1.5 bottles barbados rum
1 bottle cognac
3 quarts boiling water
2 cups lemon juice
brown sugar to taste
handful of cloves
Garnish with a spiral of lemon peel.

If you don't need to drink 25 of these, and you don't have a party coming up, you could reduce the recipe like this to make one mug:

1.5 oz barbados rum
1 oz cognac
3 oz boiling water
.5 oz lemon juice
1 barspoon brown sugar (or to taste)
a few cloves
Garnish with a spiral of lemon peel.

I wanted to see how old school this recipe was, and I found a reference in one of the original cocktail guides, Jerry Thomas' How to Mix Drinks (A Bartender's Guide), from 1887. That is old school. The recipe is a bit complicated, and I imagine that the recipe that Baker ran into on his travels was just a simplified version of this one:

Oxford Punch.

(The Punch patronized by the Students of the University of Oxford.)

Take 1 pint of Cognac brandy
1 pint of old Jamaica rum
1 quart of orange shrub*
½ pint of sherry
1 bottle of Capillaire†
2 quarts of boiling water
6 glasses of calfs-foot jelly‡
6 lemons.
4 sweet oranges.
Sufficient loaf-sugar, dissolved in some of the hot water.

Rub the rinds of three lemons with sugar to extract the essential oil. Cut the peel very fine off two more lemons and two of the oranges. Press out the juice of all the oranges and lemons. Place the whole, with the jelly, in a jug and stir well. Pour on the water, and let it stand for twenty minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a large bowl; add the capillaire, spirits, shrub, and wine, stirring well.

I'm sticking to the simplified version, but if anyone goes for the Thomas recipe, please let me know how it comes out. Keep warm all winter long with the full list of all the winter warmers over at Imbibe Unfiltered . They'll have all the links in the wrap-up.


* Orange Shrub was a potent cocktail made with oranges, sugar and rum.
† Capillaire was a sweet syrup with eggwhites and flavorings like orange-flower water or bitter almonds.
‡ Calf's-foot jelly was a gelatin made from calves feet.

Mixology Monday

Number 10: Drinks for a Festive Occasion














Kim is in charge when it comes time to put up a the tree at the restaurant. When you're putting up and decorating a 14 to 18 foot tree, you need some liquid inspiration. This year Kim wanted Hot Buttered Rum.

Hot Buttered Rum:

2oz Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Años rum

1.5 oz Boiling Water

1 barspoon batter (see below for batter recipe)

1 cinnamon stick

Blend together the following ingredients to make the batter:
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of cinnamon

Pre-warm your favorite tiki skull Santa mug with hot water. Put one barspoon of the batter in the mug and add 2 oz. of a nice aged rum and a dash of falernum. Add 1.5 oz boiling water. Stir it up and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

I used Gran Centenario 23-year old rum and Fee Brothers Falernum, but you can use whatever you have on-hand. Same with the spices. This is a recipe you can really customize and make your own. Don't forget to head over to The Spirit World to see all the festivities.

Now get that tree up! Happy Holidays.

Mixology Monday: Bitters

Cocktail bitters are one of those ingredients you don't know you need, until you know you need 'em, and then you don't know how you survived without 'em. Most people still don't know they need 'em.

It's my experience that many bars will happily serve you a Manhattan with no bitters at all. It's a shame because the bitters really make the Manhattan. My favorite bitters for the Manhattan are Fee Brothers "Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters." These multi-faceted bitters combine orangey-citrus flavors and holiday spices with complex bitter notes. Somehow the bitters round out and smooth the flavors. On to my recipe:

Manhattan

2 oz. Rye whiskey
1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1-2 dashes Fee Brothers Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
garnish with a brandied cherry


Bitter Flexibility.

The Manhattan recipe works great with the Fee Brothers Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters, but it's good to have a variety of bitters at hand. You need Peychaud's for the Sazerac, and Regan's Orange bitters are great in Martinis and Bourbon Manhattans. I keep a small bitters bottle full of absinthe to use like bitters, it's a great secret ingredient in tiki drinks. Fee Brothers Orange Bitters are subtle and provide a smoothness to a cocktail without drawing attention.

Source of Bitterness:
Buffalo Trace Distillery sells Peychaud's and Regan's Orange Bitters. (Choose the Food::Mixes menu item)

Fee Brothers will ship their products directly as well. Their line-up includes Orange, Lemon, Mint, Peach, and Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters. Call them on (800) 961-FEES.

Angostora Bitters should be available at your local supermarket.

This week's Mixology Monday is being hosted by Dietsch over at A Dash of Bitters. Make sure to check the round-up and see what the others have come up with.

Exotic Drinks

Exotic, adjective
Pronunciation: ig-'zä-tik

1 : introduced from another country : not native to the place where found
2 archaic : FOREIGN, ALIEN
3 : strikingly, excitingly, or mysteriously different or unusual
4 : of or relating to striptease

(http://www.m-w.com)

That's the definistion of exotic from Merriam-Webster's. This topic is a little bit depressing. It points out the fact that most of the solid classics of the cocktail world have become hard to find. If it's not on my "top ten cocktail" list, most bars probably don't know how to make 'em. They're just too exotic.

So here I give you my top five "exotic" cocktails that shouldn't be so unusual.

1. The Sazerac
I already wrote about the Sazerac, and I think it's one of the best cocktails going. Just try to order one at your nearest watering hole.

2. The Sidecar
Brandy, lemon juice and triple sec. This is a true classic and a precursor to the Margarita.

3. Mai Tai
You can get something going by the name Mai Tai just about anywhere, but a well-made classic Mai Tai is truly unusual these days. Definately exotic.

4. Manhattan
Okay. So you can probably get a manhattan anywhere, will it be good? Will it have bitters?

5. Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail
This fits the true definition of a cocktail: Spirits, sugar, water and bitters. Is this so archaic that it's not good anymore? I don't think so.

These are all great cocktails that have sadly been left behind by the rush to vodka.
Participate in the cocktail revival, try one of these classics next time you step up to the bar. You might need to bring your recipe along.

Skip over to Meeta's What's for Lunch, Honey? for more exotic recipes.

Mixology Monday - Goodbye Summer

Out here in California, it's summer-like most of the year. We don't have to put away our summer cocktails just because it's September. It's a shame to miss out on all the seasons. We soldier on.

Looking back.

For me this summer was about rum. A lot of my cocktail expirimentation involved tiki drinks. Mai-Tai's, Fog Cutters, Test Pilots, you name it, if it was tiki I tried it this summer. I got a lot of inspiration from my fellow bloggers, and from Beachbum Berry's great tiki drink books.

Gin was also a great inspiration this summer. What's summer without a few Gin & Tonics? But there's more to humble genever. This was the summer I realized that gin is the ultimate mixer. I think more great cocktails are based on gin than any other spirit. 20th Century, Corpse Reviver, Negroni, Martini &c.

The Caipirinha was huge this summer and we saw more choice in the cachaca category.

This summer was also the summer of Mixology Monday. We started back in April and haven't looked back. (Stop by The Cocktail Chronicles to see the rest of this week's posts.)

Looking Forward.

Now I'm looking into the future to see what will be popular this fall and winter. I've already started to see more orders for "brown spirit" cocktails. I'm looking forward to Old-Fashioned Cocktails, Sazeracs, Manhattans, and plenty of single-malt whisky and Cognac orders. Martini's seem to cut across the seasons, so I'll make plenty of those too.

I think I'll focus my creative energy around malt whisky this season and see if I can come up with some nice scotch-based cocktails.

Here's one to get your fall started off on the right foot.

Jose MacGregor

2 oz. Scotch Whisky
0.5 oz Licor 43
2 dashes Regan's orange bitters
Garnish with a lemon twist

This is a great Scotch cocktail for people who don't like Scotch. You can adjust the amount of Licor 43 to the preference of the drinker. If they like sweet drinks, use an ounce of 43, if they like a drier cocktail, use half an ounce.

I normally make the Jose MacGregor with a blended whisky like Dewar's or Chivas, but it is fun to experiment with strong single-malts.
A Jose MacGregor made with Ardbeg is a thing of beauty. The sweetness of the Licor 43 punches right through Ardbeg's powerful smokiness, while the sweet vanilla flavors mingle. Make one with Glenrothes or Macallan and see how the fruity raisin notes mix with the sweet vanilla of the Licor 43.

Goodbye Summer. See you soon.

Mixology Monday - Grape

Is it Mixology Monday already? This week it's being hosted by Rick over at Saving The World, One Drink at a Time. Make sure to check-in over there to catch up on all the posts. I'm going to go with a recipe that uses Sherry in a unexpected and important way.

The Fog Cutter

1.5 oz light rum
0.5 oz brandy
0.5 oz gin
1.5 oz orange juice
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz orgeat
0.5 oz sherry


Shake everything except the sherry over ice and strain into a tiki mug filled with crushed ice.
Float the sherry on top.

I always thought that sherry was a drink for Dot Branning, not for me. So I tried this drink without the sherry and it just doesn't work. I think good tiki drinks often have a magic and unexpected ingredient that ties the drink together and makes it much more than the sum of its parts. In the Fog Cutter, sherry is the magic ingredient. This drink is really good, but potent. So be careful, or even better, share!

Mixology Monday V: Lemon

The Cocktail DB is a great resource for researching cocktails. You can search an exhaustive database on specific ingredients, or find the basic recipes to thousands of cocktails by name. I thought I'd do some research over there lemons as they relate to cocktails.

Lemon

Sorry, your search returned too many matches! (1729) Please refine your search to make it more specific.

Hmmm. More specific. OK.

Lemon Juice

Sorry, your search returned too many matches! (1216) Please refine your search to make it more specific.

Lemon Juice, Gin

Sorry, your search returned too many matches! (508) Please refine your search to make it more specific.

Lemon Juice, Rum

Result! I got 289 cocktail recipes from this query. Cocktails from Agonie to Zombie. The point of this excercise was to reinforce the importance of lemon in cocktails. Lemon juice is a key ingredient in a whole family of cocktails called sours. Makes me want to go out and plant a lemon tree in my yard. (Might as well put a lime tree in while I'm at it.)

Here is the classic sour formula:
2 oz spirit
.5 oz lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup

The enduring classic "sour" is the whiskey sour:

2 0z bourbon
.5 oz lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup



The Sidecar.
For this weeks drink, I wanted to go with a classic sour-style drink, the Sidecar.

Here's my recipe:

2 oz fine cognac
.75 oz Cointreau
.5 oz lemon juice

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Sugared rim optional.

Embury states he knew the sidecar's inventor from his days in Paris, and it was named after this fellow's motorcycle sidecar. He also mentions that it had been simplified from the original "six or seven" ingredients (interestingly, none mentioned). I think the simplicity is what makes the sidecar work. The lemon and sugar are a perfect counterpoint to the cognac's complexity. Adjust the recipe to balance the type of cognac you use and your preferences. Once you nail this one down, head over to the cocktaildb and start on the 1729 other lemon cocktails. Or you could point your browser at Mixology Monday V: Lemon.

Mixology Monday Reminder

Don't forget about Mixology Monday this week! Hosted at jiggle the handle, the subject is Lemon.