You’ve seen the first twenty cocktails; tonight, we bring you the final eleven from our May of 31 Cocktails!
Day #21: Vieux Carré
3/4 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. Hennessy
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
1 barspoon Bénédictine
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
I admit, I’d never had a Vieux Carré, or even really heard of one, until I attended the USBG Hennessy event back at the start of the year. Hennessy cocktails hadn’t really been on my radar, but I will tell you: they are now, in a big way! This drink soothes like no other, and I admit that it’s gone into my regular rotation after a particularly heavy day of lifting or running. Who knew, cognac is great for your muscles!
Day #22: Cosmopolitan
2 oz vodka
3/4 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz lime juice
A moment to discuss this often crafted, and often wrecked, important cocktail.
Do not put triple sec in your Cosmopolitan.
::Ahem::
Allow me to say it once more: DO NOT PUT TRIPLE SEC IN YOUR COSMOPOLITAN.
Buy a dang bottle of Cointreau and MAKE IT RIGHT! (I’m talking to you, so called ‘martini’ bars who don’t know how to make a damn Cosmo.)
Okay then.
I know the Cosmopolitan got over-popularized by Sex and the City, but it’s a great drink. Flavor balance is good, booze taste is well-hidden, just a hint of fruity sweetness. A well-made Cosmo makes for a fine evening.
(Just step away from that bottle of Triple Sec.)
Day #23: Santa’s Dirty Beard
1.5 oz Avion Espresso
3/4 oz dry Curaçao
1 oz whipped egg
shake with ice until frothy
sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg
This is a husband-crafted cocktail, created for the holiday season. It’s truly delicious, but it’s VERY rich, so a little goes a long way. Does quite well as a sipping shot. Frothy and coffee-like, it would make an awesome after-dinner drink.
Day #24: Sidecar
1.5 oz cognac
3/4 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz lemon juice
Back on the topic of cognac cocktails, the Sidecar is a classic that truly deserves all the respect it gets. Simple but delicious, you really can’t go wrong with one of these.
Day #25: Blueberry Mojito
11 blueberries
1 oz lime juice
1/2 oz sugar
9 mint leaves
2 oz white rum
1 oz club soda
Muddle 8 blueberries with 8 mint leaves, the lime juice, and sugar. Add rum, pour over ice and stir. QS to the top with club soda. Garnish with 3 blueberries and a mint leaf. Embrace summer, because it’s here now girl.
Not sure how we missed the ingredient shot for that, but we did. My apologies. A good blueberry mojito is a summertime must. As soon as the blueberries start rolling in with your CSA, start mixing these babies up.
Day #26: Long Island Iced Tea
1 oz vodka
1 oz gin
1 oz white rum
1 oz white tequila
1/2 oz Cointreau (or triple sec)
1/2 oz sour mix (even though it pained me to buy it)
1 splash Coke
Lemon wedges for garnish
Not the classiest of cocktails, but the Long Island is always a favorite of mine. I wanted to make one for this month because, much like the Cosmopolitan, it’s a cocktail that is made frequently, and made incorrectly much of the time. The Coke should be just a splash, but many bartenders put way too much in, and that knocks off the balance. I also have a soft spot for this drink, as it was the first drink I had when I turned 21 (12:01am, October 4th 2003, made by Billy at the Cage, who still makes these for me to this day!).
Day #27: Satan’s Whiskers
1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. orange juice
Dash orange bitters
Another solid old gin drink, the Satan’s Whiskers is a cocktail we learned to make back at our very first mixology class.
Day #28: Navy Grog
3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
3/4 oz soda water
1 oz honey syrup
1 oz light Puerto Rican rum
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Demerara rum
It had been a few days since we’d made any overly-complicated Tiki drinks, so it was time for one again. This involved the purchase of a rum or two that we didn’t already have on hand. The result was pretty decent: lighter than it seemed it should be, and definitely very little hint of the amount of booze you get!
Day #29: Buddha’s Awakening
2 oz vodka
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 oz Zen green tea liqueur
splash of fresh lime
honey around rim
Back in the day, there was a fabulous martini bar in Cambridge called Red Line. It’s now gone, sadly, but we carry on the tradition of one of its best martinis, the Buddha’s Awakening. This is literally a martini that tastes like green tea. The honey around the rim makes for a sticky situation, but it’s worth it as the flavor profile is the perfect accompaniment. Pro-tip: the Zen green tea liqueur is a Suntory product that is not readily available in PA, so if you like it, look for it when you’re traveling out of state. We found ours on a trip to Chicago and it made for one of the best souvenirs I’ve ever bought.
Day #30: 1934 Zombie
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz Don’s mix
1/2 oz falernum
1.5 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
1.5 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Lemon Hart 151-proof Demerara rum
1 dash Angostura bitters
6 drops Pernod
2 bar spoons grenadine
6 oz crushed ice
Put in blender at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour into glass, add ice cubes to fill, garnish with mint sprig.
One of those amazing drinks that tastes nothing like booze but will knock you out before you know it, the Zombie is not for the faint of heart. It sneaks up on you by hiding behind its deliciousness. So good, but so much effort. That’s a lot of homemade going into there (the photo above the ingredient list is the falernum Michael handcrafted using Paul Clarke’s falernum #9 recipe). Oh. And a LOT of rum.
Day #31: Ramos Gin Fizz
1 1/2 oz. gin
1 Tbsp. simple syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 fresh egg white (pasteurized if you like)
1 oz. heavy cream
3 drops orange flower water
1 oz. club soda, chilled
Combine first seven ingredients in a shaker without ice and shake vigorously to combine. Add ice to the shaker and shake again for at least a couple of minutes (more if you have it in you). Strain into a glass, top with club soda and stir.
A cocktail and an arm workout all in one, we opted to end our month with the Ramos Gin Fizz. While nothing will be as fabulous as the Ramos Gin Fizz Michael’s cousin Jess made for us at The NoMad a couple of Novembers ago, this one was pretty solid for an in-home drink. And with all those minutes and minutes of shaking, Michael didn’t even have to lift weights that night!
Hope everyone has enjoyed our 31 Days of Cocktails, and that you’ve gotten some ideas for your own home mixology adventures. These 31 drinks are just the tip of the cocktail iceberg, so I sense a Part 2 coming in future years!