Keeping a retired educator busy
Lifelong learner, passionate about public education, and finding new ways to stay green and growing.
Saturday is Coctail Hour for us, the one day we find something new and different to try.
I scoured the web for the perfect concoction to make with my bottle of Mad River Revolution Rye, and found just the thing on Mad River’s website: a Vermont Carre.
Mad River’s recipe can be found here.
I have a deep appreciation for gin, my favorite style being London, and the juniper-y the better.
Tonight’s cocktail comes from J.M. Hirsch’s Shake Strain and Done (purchase options, highly recommended) and even though the headnotes suggest this would be a tasty cocktail in Autumn, I enjoyed it immensely on an 80+ degree New England August evening.
The characteristics of this drink are strong, sweet and fruity. I agree! And I’d also add that it was one of the smoothest cocktails I’ve had in a long while. The proportions for this concoction are found on p 101 of Shake Strain and Done and I’ve included the spirit list below.
The Highfalutin
gin (Bombay Dry)
sweet vermouth (my go-to is always Cocchi Torino)
maraschino liqueur
Angostura bitters
We always look forward to Friday night’s YouTube posting from Anders Erickson. If you haven’t seen the videos he posts, highly recommend it. A little cocktail history and some great tips and ideas (or as Anders says: “Sips, Tips, and Recipes) for making homebar concoctions excellent can be found on the site.
This week, however, after a long (and dry) period forced upon us by our recent engagement with the Omicron variant, we decided to celebrate on Tuesday, which just happened to be Mardi Gras. The Creole cocktail from Anders was just the ticket to celebrate, not only getting out of COVID jail, but laissez le bon temps rouler.
You can find the version of the Creole Cocktail that Anders shared here. The ingredients are found below (my tweaks necessitated by what’s currently in our bar in parenthesis)
1.5 oz Old Overholt Rye Whiskey (I used Rittenhouse)
1 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
1/4 oz. Bénédictine DOM
1/4 oz Ramazzotti Amaro (I used Amaro Averna b/c that’s what we have)
2 dashes Fee Bros Orange Bitters
Expressed lemon oil
Lemon peel for garnish
Since Tax Season, or Tax Records Season, has started, this seemed like a good idea for our Cocktail Saturday. Orange-y and somewhat sweet, I made this with Cape Cod Gin (Dry Line) and used Cocchi Torino, my current favorite go-to for sweet vermouth.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. gin
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz. sweet vermouth
1 oz. orange juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Combine all of the above in a shaker filled with ice. Shake for about 20 seconds or until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with twist of orange.
While I do enjoy a Negroni cocktail, when colder weather hits, it feels like time to mix it up a bit. The Boulevardier cocktail does just that by substituting bourbon for gin. I’ve seen this cocktail made with equal parts, but I sometimes find Campari overwhelmingly bitter, so using the Diffords proportions resulted in a smooth and balanced cocktail which, in my opinion, worked better and allowed the bourbon to shine through.
1-1/2 oz. bourbon (I used Woodfords)
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino is my sweet red of choice)
34 oz. Campari
Add the ingredients to a mixing glass along with ice. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass (I used an old fashioned glass) or serve over ice. Garnish with orange peel.
The Diplomat cocktail came up on the app I’ve been using to match up our home bar ingredients to cocktail suggestions. Billed as a cocktail that is not too heavy on the alcohol, this was a smooth and light and enjoyable pre-dinner drink. Not sure about conducting diplomatic negotiations after imbibing though.
There are several version of this cocktail floating around the Internet and at least one from the Savoy Cocktail book by Harry Craddock. However, this is the one that popped up on the app, and since I had all the ingredients, well, that’s what I mixed.
Ingredients
3/4 oz. dry vermouth (I used Dolin green label)
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (I used Dolin again - might try this with Cocchi next time around)
dash of Marachino Liquor (Luxardo)
dash of Angostura bitters
Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice, stir for about 40 seconds and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a marachino cherry if desired.
Our weekly cocktail night - usually a Saturday - caps off the week with a little creativity in the adult beverage department. We like to try new ideas for cocktails and for once, this one did not require that I make a run to the packie for any ingredients - we had them right in our bar.
This idea, along with a drink called a Ford came courtesy of Anders Erickson. Check out his youtube channel for some great cocktail ideas.
Maybe it was the sweet (Red) vermouth, but this cocktail reminded me of a Manhattan, but made with Gin. Definitely keeping this in the rotation.
Ingredients
2 oz. (60 ml) Gin (used a local - Dry Line)
1/2 oz. (15 ml) dry Vermouth (used Dolin de Chambéry Dry
1/2 oz. (15 ml) sweet Vermouth (used Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Rouge)
Bar spoon (5 ml) Bénédictine DOM
Expressed lemon oil
Place first 4 ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice, and stir to chill. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.
This cocktail comes from David Lebovitz’s most recent book, Drinking French and was a perfect cocktail for our weather-impacted Christmas Day not-so-much-of-a-gathering. Deliciously orange-y, spicy, and (my personal favorite) based on a juniper forward gin from South Hollow Spirits in North Truro, MA (gifted to me by our son and daughter-in-law), it brought together a great blending of Suze, Cointreau, and sweet vermouth.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. London-style gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Suze
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec (we used Cointreau)
Orange twist and spring of fresh thyme for garnish
Add the gin, vermouth, Suze and (in our case) Cointreau to a cocktail mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Hold the orange twist over the top of the drink and twist it to release the oils from the peel into the drink. Drop the orange twist into the glass and garnish with the thyme sprig floating on top.
Rebekah Keppler’s book, Apertif, divides cocktails by season of the year. This one, Pink Sbagliato, is a variation on the Negroni minus the gin. Sbagliato, meaning “mistaken”, also has a more direct meaning: f’ck’ed up - which somehow seemed appropriate for this time period.
A tasty, warm weather drink that is not only simple to make, but perfect for a summer night.
Pink Sbagliato
(serves 1)
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth
3 ounces sparkling rose
In a lowball glass, combine the Campari and sweet vermouth. Add ice and top with sparkling wine (simple!).
Today, July 15, 2020, is the Covid-19 adjusted Income Tax day. We noted our contribution to the IRS occurred shortly after midnight, and to mark this momentus occasion for all of us who owed a little something to the Federal - and State - government, I present the Income Tax Cocktail.
Tonight’s cocktail is a mix of gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, orange juice and a dash of bitters. Accoring to cocktail expert Ted Haigh, this one is based upon a Bronx cocktail, also an unknown to me.
So if you, like us, feel a little lighter in the wallet today, console yourself with The Income Tax Cocktail.
The Income Tax Cocktail
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces dry gin
3/4 ounce dry vermouth
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
juice of 1/4 of a fresh orange (note - fresh is important)
2 dash Angostura bitters
Method:
Squeeze the orange directly into the shaker filled with ice.
Add the gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth and dashes of bitters.
Shake and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange circle.