Tuesday, April 29, 2008

saratoga cocktail

1oz Brandy (Hine H Cognac)
1oz Whiskey (Weller Bourbon)
1oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes aromatic bitters (Fee Bros Whiskey-Barrel Aged)

Garnish with a lemon twist. Recipe from pg. 255 of Imbibe! by David Wondrich.

Notations above as prepared by Hugh @ES for Husband and surrogate-husband (I was sticking with gin for the evening, for whatever reason). I'm always skeptical of Bourbon but in this context, it was actually quite good -- for me, in that "oh, I'll drink that" way versus "oh, I'll order that". The recipe as printed called for Rye whiskey instead of Bourbon, and Angostura bitters by name.

hearst (variant)

2oz Gin (Beefeater)
1 1/2oz sweet vermouth
dash Angostura bitters
dash Angostura Orange bitters

I've been anxious to try something new: I've been out at least weekly for this past month yet as you can see, my blog entries would not seem to indicate that fact! I've been sticking to things I've had before -- enjoying myself quite a bit of course! But not ranging too far from a grouping of drinks -- and so I was psyched when Hugh @ES suggested this drink last night because I thought it was new to me! I'd forgotten I'd had it before... This was a little bit different in proportions and I really rather enjoyed it. And once the hot weather comes, I'm sure I'll be even more enthusiastic to tread new ground.

This month was all about rye whiskey for whatever reason! Hardly a terrible thing.

prospect park (variant)

2oz Michter's US1 Rye
1/2oz Punt e Mes
1/2oz Luxardo Maraschino
1/2oz Aperol

Stir over ice, garnish with proper cherry.

My partner-in-cocktail-crime is going away for the summer (bastard gets to visit all those delicious-sounding Bay Area cocktail joints), and had scrawled this recipe in my notebook during one of our last jaunts to the Standard. I did not have the proportions for the Prospect Park in my previous entry, so here you go. Perhaps I'll remember to ask for the classic proportions next time...

Monday, April 14, 2008

brandy crusta

1 1/2oz cognac
1/4oz maraschino
1/4oz Cointreau
1/4oz lemon juice
dash Angostura bitters
sugared rim
curl of lemon peel

Another recipe I found is here.

Kevin @ES brought this over for Husband and I to try -- you can definately taste that this is a Sidecar precursor. Very pretty presentation, and had a Lemonhead-y sort of aftertaste: not a bad thing in my book! God, I used to eat those things until my teeth hurt... perhaps that explains my current citrus problems. :/

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

:: note to self: ::

Don't keep wondering why you feel so afflicted by a couple of drinks when the rye whiskey in all of them is Rittenhouse 100.

Because that is why.