January 2008 Archives

Closely related to the Hot Toddy, this recipe is one of my favorite way to enjoy brandy, despite what Mr. Lamb has to say!

Ingredients

Glassware: Coffee Mug
1 tsp. Sugar
1 oz. Brandy
Fill with hot water
Lemon Twist for garnish

Instructions

Pre-heat the glass mug
Pour Brandy
Add Sugar and hot water and stir
Garnish with a Lemon Twist

I didn't know much about Mr. Lamb before I found this quote, but he appears to know his libations, and that makes him tops in my book!

"A mixture of brandy and water spoils two good things."
~English poet and essayist Charles Lamb

Since December, I've been making these much more often, and I have to say, they aren't bad at all!

Ingredients

Glassware: Coffee Mug
1 tsp. Sugar
1 oz. Whiskey
Fill with hot water
Lemon Twist for garnish

Instructions

Pre-heat the glass mug
Pour whiskey
Add Sugar and hot water and stir
Garnish with a Lemon Twist

In honor of The Big Lebowski, here is the beverage so favored by the Dude, played by Jeff Bridges.

Ingredients

1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Kahlua
Float Cream

Instructions

Fill a rocks glass with ice
Pour Vodka and Kahlua together
Float Cream on top

I thought it would be fitting to do another New Year's toast, given that this is the last Tuesday in January. I suppose I might have some trouble finding New Year's toasts later on down the line, but this one was too good to pass up.

"Here's a toast to the future, a toast to the past,
And a toast to our friends, far and near.
May the future be pleasant; The past a bright dream;
May our friends remain faithful and dear."
~Anonymous

When I learned this shot in Bartending School, I was sure that I'd hate it. Well, I couldn't be more wrong. I had the chance to try it, and the Scooby Snack is a really neat little invention!

Ingredients

1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Malibu Rum
Splash of Pineapple Juice
Whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

Fill a boston shaker with ice
Pour Malibu and Midori
Splash pineapple juice
Shake and strain into a double shotglass
Garnish with whipped cream

This is another one I found in the Joy of Mixology, but it was originally printed in the Savoy Cocktail Book. As Manhattans go, it is interesting in that it uses a lemon twist instead of a cherry, since twists are usually reserved for Dry Manhattans (made with Dry Vermouth).

Ingredients

2 oz. Irish Whiskey
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
Angostura Bitters, to taste
Twist of lemon, for garnish

Instructions

Fill a boston shaker with ice
Pour Sweet vermouth and Irish Whiskey
Dash bitters
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with the lemon twist

I picked up this version of the classic Brandy Alexander from the San Francisco School of Bartending.

Ingredients

1 oz. Brandy
1 oz. Dark Creme de Cacao
1 oz. Cream
Nutmeg, for garnish

Instructions

Fill a Boston Shaker with ice
Pour Brandy and Creme de Cacao
Pour Cream
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass
Grind a few grains of nutmeg for garnish

Today's quotation comes to us from a letter that Mark Twain wrote to his wife, Olivia, in 1874. I'll have to get some lemons and try it out, for old time's sake. Although, I think one "cock-tail" before bed will serve me just fine. What fine constitution folks had in those days, to begin drinking at breakfast!

"I want you to be sure and remember to have in the bath-room, when I arrive, a bottle of Scotch whiskey, a lemon, some crushed sugar, and a bottle of Angostura bitters. Ever since I have been in London I have taken in a wineglass what is called a cock-tail (made with those ingredients), before breakfast, before dinner, and just before going to bed."

~Mark Twain

I ran across this recipe in the Joy of Mixology, but apparently it comes from a place called Anthony's in Houston, Texas courtesy of one Al Romeo. I'm a huge fan of bourbon so, of course, I'm eager to try this.

Ingredients

2 oz. Bourbon
1/2 oz. Amaretto
1/2 oz. fresh Lime Juice

Instructions

Fill a boston shaker with ice
Pour Bourbon and Amaretto
Pour Lime Juice
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Another vintage toast from another vintage source, this little one is in honor of my friend, the soldier, and all others like him.

"May the brave soldier who never turned his back to the enemy, never have a friend turn his back to him."

~The Social Toastmaster (1841)

While this language may have been fashionable in 1841, it doesn't seem to roll off my tongue too well, and I can only imagine myself butchering this toast while actually drinking. So below is another version, which I plan to commit to memory, it being easier for me.

"Here's to the brave soldier who never turns his back to the enemy!
And to us: may we never turn our backs to him!"

~Erik Behind the Bar

For Christmas this year, my sweetheart got me the Savoy Cocktail Book, so I think the next several daily recipes will be adaptations from that source. Here is one, listed with the following passage:

"This Cocktail was created by Harry Craddock for the Leap Year celebrations at the Savoy Hotel, London, on February 29th, 1928. It is said to have been responsible for more proposals than any other cocktail that has ever been mixed."

Here's my version:

Ingredients

2 oz. Gin
1/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1/4 oz. Sour Mix.
Lemon Twist, for Garnish

Instructions

Fill a Boston Shaker with Ice
Pour Gin and Sour Mix
Pour Grand Marnier and Sweet Vermouth
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with a twist of lemon

Last night I found a note from one of the other bartenders, explaining how to make this drink. Looking it up online, however, I found several other versions with the same name, including one with Cointreau, one with cream, and some with both! In any case, I'm going to try this out today and see how it goes. It sounds like it may actually be pretty good, even if it is nothing like the other Italian Jobs of the internet. I expect it is just one of those names that will keep getting used because it references a cool movie. Or rather a cool movie and its somewhat entertaining remake. Perhaps that's what I'll call this: the Italian Job Remake.

Ingredients

1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Amaretto
1 oz. Fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Fill a boston shaker with ice
Pour Campari and Amaretto
Pour Lemon Juice
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

This recipe originally came from The Savoy Cocktail Book, but I first ran across it in the Joy of Mixology. It looks pretty tasty, so I'll have to give it the old college try.

Ingredients

1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Triple Sec
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. fresh orange juice
Angostura Bitters to taste

Instructions

Fill a boston shaker with ice
Pour Gin and Triple Sec
Pour lemon and orange juice
Add a dash of Bitters
Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

In honor of the recent legalization of Absinthe, here is a quote from Britain's leading decadent!

"Absinthe has a wonderful color, green. A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world. What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?"

~Oscar Wilde

When you work the early shift at a neighborhood bar, time can pass pretty slowly. On just such an afternoon at McGrath's, Drew (a good friend) and I were chatting when he happened to notice a cribbage board, tucked away in one of the shelves of the back-bar. I mentioned that my mother had taught me to play, and that I spent hours and hours in my childhood playing the game with my sister and parents. It was the same with him, and so, for old time's sake, we decided to play a game.

It was so much fun, that we made it a regular thing, and we began to keep score of our game totals. As of this writing, he's beating me twenty-seven games to eight. I have decided that this is due to his excessive skill at the game, rather than my lack thereof.

In any case, Drew's brother (Eric, not to be confused with me, Erik) came into the pub one day and found us playing. So when I got busy, around 4:30pm, it was brother against brother on the cribbage board!

As more and more patrons noticed our game, we realized that we had enough players to run a small tournament! We scheduled the first one for Thursday, December 20th, 2007. We had seven people, and it was a blast! I looked up how to run a double-elimination tournament, so each player is guaranteed at least two games. We had so much fun that it has become a weekly event at McGrath's. We even managed to make it through the holidays without missing a week!

So if you play Cribbage, or even if you don't, I'd like to invite you, dear reader, out to McGrath's this coming Thursday, January 17th, 2008, for our fifth weekly tournament! Don't worry if you can't make it on such short notice: it looks like we'll be having cribbage tournaments for quite some time to come! We begin at 7:00 pm. See you there!

Most folks agree that the original Tom Collins was made with Old Tom Gin, which is no longer available. This is one of those truly enjoyable drinks that seems to have slipped from the minds of modern drinkers. I tried this for the first time while I was in Bartender School, and it immediately became one of our household favorites.

Ingredients

Glassware: Collins glass (highball glass)
2 oz. Gin
3 oz. Soda
3 oz. Sour Mix
Maraschino Cherry, for Garnish
Orange Wheel, for Garnish

Instructions

Fill a Collins glass with ice
Pour Gin
Fill with Soda and Sour Mix
Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry and half an Orange Wheel

It has been getting more and more difficult to find toasts I enjoy enough to post. But hope appears: I discovered a lengthy history on the subject containing references to a few books, some of them vintage. Here's a sampling!

"The rose of pleasure without the thorn!"
~The Toast Master's Guide by T. Hughes

Mae West is on record for saying all kinds of endearing things. I found this one on a website a while back, and now I'm trying to track down a copy of the movie.

"How are you mixed up in this?"

"Like an olive in a dry martini."

~Big Bill Barton (Edward Arnold) and Tira (Mae West), in I'm No Angel

This old Irish toast reads a little more like a humorous curse, but my father and I had a good laugh over it!

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
~Unattributed Irish Toast

I was watching Molto Mario the other day, and while Mr. Batali was whipping up a Flourless Chocolate Cake, he asked one of his guests to demonstrate how to make this cocktail to accompany the dessert. Miraculously, I had everything at the house to make this! As my first introduction to a Flip, it was pretty good. I can't wait to try it with bourbon!

Ingredients (Serves 3)

Glassware: Small Wine Glass
4 oz. Marsala Wine
2 oz. Nocello or Amaretto
2 oz. Heavy Cream
1 egg
Garnish: Grated Almonds

Instructions

Crack the egg into a boston shaker and check for shells
Add the Heavy Cream
Pour Nocello and Marsala Wine
Shake vigorously and strain into glassware.
Using a microplane, grate a bit of almond onto the top of each drink.

Today's Libation Quotation comes to us from Dr. Samuel Johnson, England's most often quoted writer, excepting only Shakespeare.

"Claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy!"

~Samuel Johnson

I found this quaint little New Year's Toast on an Irish Heritage website. Happy New Year everyone!

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship but never in want.

~Author Unknown