04 Apr 2023: The ATTY

On this somewhat historic day, I thought a cocktail with a connection might be in order. So tonight’s sip was the aptly named ATTY cocktail. I consider this a sort of punched up riff on a gin martini. Because I was looking to highlight the purple color of the drink, I used Empress 1908 Gin, but I missed the more juniper-forwardness of our usual Bombay Dry, so I played around with adding a barspoonful of the Bombay to the 1908. Not too shabby.

Traditional ATTY cocktails call for a 1/4 oz of Absinthe. I’m not a huge fan of Absinthe, but didn’t want to miss out on the flavor, so I spritzed the chilled glass instead.

Ingredients

(per the traditional recipe - see my headnote for tweaks)

• 2 oz dry Gin

• 3/4 oz dry Vermouth (used Dolin)

• 1/4 oz Créme di Violette Liqueur

• 1/4 tsp absinthe (see headnote)

Place all ingredients in a shaker, add ice and shake until super chilled (I did 40 seconds - maybe not necessary to do that much). Pour into chilled coupe glass and optionally garnish with lemon peel.

19 Nov 2022: Empress Gin Martini

Saturday night is cocktail night around here - although from my perspective, cocktails should never be limited to Saturdays.

Last night, I broke out my bottle of Empress 1908 gin and searched for a cocktail that would be fitting of our traditional Saturday night concoction. I didn’t have to search far: Empress Cocktail #2 is the Empress Martini.

Adrien, as always, made his traditional gin-based martini using Bombay Sapphire green label and Dolin dry vermouth. Mine was a little more unusual, not only in appearance, but also in taste with more grapefruit notes coming from the Lillet Blanc.

Either way, Cocktail Saturday was a success.

Empress 1908 Gin Cocktail #2: Empress Martini

• 2 oz. Empress 1908 Gin

• 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

• Garnish suggested was a grapefruit peel

Add ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir (I like things super cold, so did 30 seconds). Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish.

02 Aug 2022: Empress Gin and Cocchi

Here’s a fun and colorful cocktail which is based on about 4 other inventions I discovered yesterday:

Add to a mixing glass:

• 2 oz. Empress Gin

• About 1 oz of Cocchi Americano

• 3-4 drops of Orange Bitters

Add ice and stir. Strain into a cocktail or coupe (chilled is best) and garnish with a bit of orange peel.

11 June 2022: Empress 1908 Gin Sidecar

Empress Side Car

Link to the original Love to Know cocktail by Allison Freeman below.

Although I’ve seen Empress 1908 Gin Sidecar cocktails in several places, this creation from Love to Know was the winner of tonight’s home bar Saturday Cocktail concoction. Yes, a “traditional”, classic Sidecar is made with brandy, but the beauty of the Empress 1908 Gin called me to try something new and unusual. That is exactly what this drink turned out to be - a delicious gin-based cocktail with some subtle orange and lemon notes. Delicious!

This post in Love To Know has 11 cocktails based on Empress 1908 Gin - all developed by Allison Freeman.

Ingredients

• Lemon wedge and sugar for rim

• 1½ ounces Empress gin

• ¾ ounce orange liquor (I used Cointreau here)

• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Ice

How to mix

1. Chill a martini glass or coupe.

2. To prepare rim, rub the rim of the glass with the lemon wedge.

3. With the sugar on a saucer, dip either half or the entire rim of the glass in the sugar to coat.

4. In a cocktail shaker, add Empress Gin, orange liqueur, and lemon juice.

5. Shake to chill.

6. Strain into prepared glass.