Spirit-forward Cocktails Flashcards
Bijou Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ounce gin
1 ounce green Chartreuse
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Dash orange bitters
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail coupe, garnished with a twist of lemon
History: Bijou is the French word for “jewel.” This is an 1890s recipe that was first documented in the 1900 New and Improved Bartender Manual by Harry Johnson. One of the great bartenders of the 19th century, Johnson had worked and owned bars in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New York. His 1900 book, its third edition, includes notes on proper etiquette for bar patrons, instructions for how to serve and wait on guests, and information on a variety of spirits, liqueurs, beverages, and tools. It is considered the first true bartender manual.
Preparations & Variations: The gin (diamond), Chartreuse (emerald), and vermouth (ruby) are traditionally stirred, but when kept separate and layered to show their distinct colors, the cocktail is called an Amber Dream.
Bobby Burns Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/4 ounces blended Scotch whisky
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1 dash of orange bitters
1 dash of absinthe
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with lemon twist
History: This drink has two origin stories. It first appeared in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), by Harry Craddock, where he offers a recipe with slightly different proportions and calls it a commemoration of Robert Burns, a famed Scottish poet and countryman. He says the drink is most popularly enjoyed on St. Andrew’s Day (January 25), Burns’s birthday. In 1931, Alberto Crockett published the Old Waldorf Bar Days, containing the recipe above. He offers Craddock’s story of origin but also notes a cigar salesman by the same name who frequented the Waldorf Bar. Gary Reagan, one of today’s great cocktail historians, uncovered a 1923 photo of a cigar shop sporting the branding of Robert Burns Cigars, giving substance to Crockett’s story.
The popular recipe used today and including Drambuie is taken from David Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1953), where he writes, “While Benedictine is often added, the use of Drambuie is preferable to Benedictine as it is made with a Scotch Whisky base.” He calls it an interesting variation on the Rob Roy.
Preparations & Variations: This drink has come a long way from its first published version to what is often served today. Not once is the shortbread cookie accouterment mentioned in any of these cocktail books, but it is probably a nice addition—and particularly excellent alongside some proper blue cheese.
Boothby Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounce whiskey (bourbon or rye)
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura’s bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
1 ounce Champagne
Preparation: Stir the first four ingredients into the glass and top with Champagne.
Presentation: Cocktail coupe, garnished with orange peel
History: This cocktail’s namesake is William Boothby, an iconic San Francisco bartender (and later assemblyman) who worked at several of the city’s fine institutions, notably the Palace Hotel, Parker House Bar, and the Silver Palace. Anchor Distilling Company recently published a reprint of his 1908 bartending manual, complete with a recipe for the Boothby Cocktail (which never actually appeared in any of his original publications).
Preparations & Variations: The Boothby Cocktail is a Manhattan variant, sometimes called the Boothby Manhattan.
Boulevardier Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce Campari
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with orange twist
Bartender Comments: Bourbon takes center stage instead of gin in this cocktail made in the Negroni mold. This rendition carries some deeper bass notes, which may knock this drink outside of the aperitif category; in any case, you are a sommelier, so try one soon (if you have not already). Origins point to Harry McElhone’s 1927 publication Barflies and Cocktails. Adjust the amount of whiskey to suit your palate.
Brooklyn Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
1 1/2 ounces dry vermouth
Dash Maraschino liqueur
Dash Amer Picon bitters
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Served up or on the rocks, garnished with lemon twist, orange twist, or both
History: The Brooklyn Cocktail made its first print appearance in Jack’s Manual (1908) by J. A. Grohusko, a famous New York City bartender in the years before Prohibition. The origin of the cocktail is unknown; while Grohusko may not be the creator, he is certainly the first to record it.
Preparations & Variations: The above recipe is the original from 1908, but it is virtually impossible to reproduce. Amer Picon is a French bitter based heavily on orange peel, gentian root, quinine, and sugar syrup. It was 38% ABV when this recipe was created but is now bottled at 21% ABV, quite a bit sweeter, and very difficult to find outside of Europe.
To replace Amer Picon, some bartenders will make an orange tincture by steeping orange peel in neutral grain spirit, while others mix two parts Ramazzotti with one part Combier, one part orange bitters, and orange peels, allowing this to rest for a few days. Torani Amer, produced by San Francisco-based Torani, is a perfect replacement for Amer Picon, as it is made with the same ingredients and at the same alcoholic strength as the original bitter.
Variations on the cocktail revolve around the proportion of each ingredient and the brands used. Many recommend a higher proof whiskey like Rittenhouse bonded rye for a slightly drier version, and a lower proof like Old Overholt for a rounder rendition. Others like to blend the whiskeys, or use something different altogether.
One of the most surprising variations comes from The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930). It recommends using Canadian Club and shaking the cocktail.
Corpse reviver #1 Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Cognac
3/4 ounce Calvados or apple brandy
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
Preparation: Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with lemon twist
History: The Corpse Reviver family of cocktails is part of the “hair of the dog” genre. “Corpse reviver” originally referred to a dram of mixed spirits. This drink appears in London’s 1861 Punch Magazine, where the entire family of hair of the dog remedies was chronicled. Layered Corpse Reviver cocktails including spirits like Chartreuse, Maraschino, and walnut liqueurs appeared on Parisian menus by 1863, and this recipe first appeared in The Gentleman’s Table Guide (1871) by E. Ricket and C. Thomas.
In 1930, Harry Craddock included the Corpse Reviver No. 1 and his No. 2 in The Savoy Cocktail Book. For No. 1, he recommend it “be taken before 11am, or whenever steam and energy is needed.”
Preparation & Variations: As with any hangover cure, there are many variations on the Corpse Reviver. The Kentucky Corpse Reviver is the same as the No. 2 but, predictably, swaps bourbon for gin. The Savoy Corpse Reviver was invented in 1954 not by Harry Craddock but another famous Savoy bartender, Joe Gilmore, who was head barman from 1954 to 1976. His rendition is a layered drink more akin to the original Parisian Corpse Revivers of the 1860s, layering equal portions of brandy, Fernet Branca, and white crème de menthe. Today, the No. 2 is the most popular drink.
Delmonico Cocktail
Ingredients:
3/4 ounce gin
1/2 ounce Cognac
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with lemon twist
History: The first documentation of this recipe is in Cocktail Boothby’s American Bartender (1891) and Kappeler’s Modern American Drinks (1895). Dave Wondrich believes the cocktail mostly likely first appeared in 1876 at the Madison Square location of Delmonico’s.
Preparations & Variations: The 1935 edition of the Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book presents a recipe of equal parts gin and French vermouth with two slices of orange peel, claiming it was adapted from an old Delmonico’s recipe. In modern cocktail books, the ratio of gin to vermouth varies. Vermouth cocktails like this were very popular in the 1870s and 1880s, and while all four ingredients may have originally been used in equal parts, the above is Dave Wondrich’s version. Still other versions recommend a full ounce of gin.
Dempsey Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ounce gin
1 ounce apple brandy
2 dashes of grenadine
2 dashes of absinthe
Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass
History: This Prohibition-era cocktail was named after Jack Dempsey, the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1919 to 1926. After his boxing career, in 1935, Dempsey opened a namesake restaurant in New York. The cocktail is said to have originated before that—perhaps in the time immediately after his career when he managed an underground casino and bar financed by Al Capone during the final years of Prohibition.
Preparations & Variations: The apple brandy or applejack used in many historic cocktails was at least 86 proof, while more recent versions of applejack have been 70 proof. Laird’s recently changed its production methods to recreate the original brandy. The best options for this cocktail are Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy Bottled in Bond 100 Proof or its Straight Applejack 86.
A sweeter version of the drink omits the absinthe and increases the amount of grenadine.
Dubonnet Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounces Dubonnet Rouge
Dash of bitters
Preparation: Stir all of the ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with lemon twist
History: Dubonnet was created in an 1846 competition launched by the French Government that sought to persuade members of the French Foreign Legion in North America to drink quinine. It was famously enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother at the ratio of two parts gin to one part Dubonnet. Queen Elizabeth II mixes the two in equal parts.
Preparations & Variations: Personalizing the ratio of gin to Dubonnet is the primary way of riffing on this formula.
El Presidente Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounce rum
3/4 ounce dry vermouth
1/2 ounce Curaçao liqueur
1 barspoon grenadine
Preparation: Stir with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with orange peel
History: This cocktail gained popularity in Cuba as Americans visited in increased numbers during Prohibition. It was likely created for one of two Cuban presidents: Mario García Menocal (1913–1921) or Gerardo Machado y Morales (1925–1933). The drink’s creator is unknown, but its popularity in the US is thought to be aided by Pan American Airlines, to which Machado gave exclusive rights to the Florida-Havana route. In response, the airline served El Presidente cocktails on its flights.
Preparations & Variations: There are few variations on this cocktail, but some add acid for balance.
4th Regiment Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 oz. Whiskey Rye
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters
1 dash Celery Bitters
1 dash Orange Bitters
Preparation:
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an cocktail coupe.
Presentation: Lemon peel
History: This cocktail has an uncertain origin. There are three places where a version of the recipe appears. 282 Mixed Drinks from the Private Records of a Bartender of the Olden Days (1889)-Author unknown and the book has not been seen by many; Drinks(1914) by Jaques Straube and the recipe that we have listed above, The Gentleman’s Companion Volume 2: The Exotic Drinking Book (1931) by Charles H. Baker.
Preparations and Variations: The 1889 printing is said to have used Peychaud’s bitters and not Angostura. Some like to use a vermouth that includes quinine like Cocchi’s Vermouth di Torino, or something a bit more bitter like Punt y Mes.
Gibson Cocktail
Ingredients:
2 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
Preparation: Stir ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with pearl onion
History: The first published recipe for the Gibson cocktail appears in William Boothby’s The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them (1908). The original recipe stood in contrast to the Gin Martini by being equal parts gin and dry vermouth. Original takes on the Martini at the end of the 19th century and into Prohibition would include a compulsory addition of bitters. Boothby notes, “No bitters should ever be used in this cocktail, but an olive may sometimes be.”
The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book (1935) offers two versions, both with only dry vermouth and gin and finished with a squeeze of an orange peel. The original is made with equal parts vermouth and gin, and the No. 2 is one-third vermouth and two-thirds gin. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) follows suit, offering the 50/50 recipe with lemon peel.
The only claim for the creation of the Gibson is the one that appears in Walter Cambell Gibson’s 1964 obituary in the New York Times. He was a stockbroker who claimed to have created the cocktail at the Ritz bar in Paris. It’s also important to note that the most distinct ingredient of the modern Gibson wasn’t prescribed until decades after it became a popular cocktail. The original was more about the removal of bitters than the addition of a cocktail onion.
Preparation & Variations: The recipe listed above will please most who order a Gibson. The ratio of vermouth to gin can be adjusted on a per-guest basis. Cocktail onions can be purchased easily, but bars that choose to pickle their own pearl onions often make a delicious version. Some even add a dash of the brine in the cocktail.
Manhattan Cocktail
Ingredients:
2 oz. Rye Whiskey
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail Glass, Cherry
History: The tale often told about the origin of the Manhattan takes place at a party Jenny Jerome(Lady Randolph Churchill-Winston Churchill’s mother) threw for Presidential candidate Samuel Tilden in 1874. However, more accurate historic accounts place Jerome in France at that time, and pregnant.
Earlier references site a bartender with the last name, Black, having made the drink at a bar near the intersection of Houston and Broadway in the 1860s.
Preparations and Variations: The original recipes often included the addition of simple syrup to the mix of Italian Vermouth and Whiskey-sweet vermouth wasn’t always as sweet as it is today. The type of bitters used would vary from bar to bar, and originally the popular choice was orange bitters sometimes blended with Angostura. The garnishes used can vary from orange peel, to a maraschino cherry.
During prohibition, Canadian Whiskey became a popular base while the use of Irish Whiskey was referred to as the Manhattan No. 2.
Martinez Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 oz. Genever
2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1/4 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
2 dashes Boker’s or Angostura bitters
Preparation: Stir all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail Glass, Twist of Lemon or Orange
Bartender Comments: Generally credited as the forerunner to the dry Martini, this drink is decidedly wet. That’s right, two parts vermouth to one part genever (or old tom if you prefer).
Martini Cocktail
Ingredients:
2.5 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
Preparation: Stir ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.
Presentation: Cocktail Glass, Olives or Lemon Peel
