La Louisiane Cocktail
If it is true, as Mark Twain opined, that “obscurity and a competence … is the life that is best worth living,” then La Louisiane Cocktail has lived a worthwhile life indeed. A first-rate cocktail that seems to fall off the face of the earth. How does that happen? Read more 
Cranberry and Bourbon: Reinventing the Bardstown Sling
It’s nearly Thanksgiving in the United States, and my wife commissioned me to invent a harvest-themed cocktail for our traditional family dinner. To guide my thoughts, she suggested a palette of autumn flavors that would complement her dinner: bourbon, cranberry, orange and maple. (It’s going to be a very good dinner…) Read more
Mixing with Fernet-Branca—the Toronto Cocktail
The Toronto Cocktail is another delightful way to exploit your bottle of Fernet-Branca, this time with whiskey. Read more
Mixing with Fernet Branca—the Hanky Panky Cocktail
I have no idea where I first came across the Hanky Panky, nor why I thought it would be a good idea to try a drink with such an off-putting, cutesy name (it turns out there’s a Prohibition-era story there), and made with Fernet-Branca, an ingredient with what Paul Clarke described in a recent Imbibe article as a “caustic reputation.” Read more
Saratoga Cocktail
When one of my friends asked for a Saratoga Cocktail recently, I was skeptical. I had tried this drink before, and I was not impressed. It seemed unbalanced, or unfinished—the flavors just didn’t seem to blend well. This time around, it was an astonishingly delicious and well-balanced drink. I’ll grant that my tastes have evolved since then, but I think the real reason the Saratoga tasted better this time has everything to do with a different mix of ingredients, particularly the vermouth. Read more
1794 Cocktail — the Boulevardier Comes to Manhattan
The 1794 cocktail is a welcome modernization of the Boulevardier, whiskey-heavy, with rye in place of bourbon. Attributed to Dominic Venegas, it is a natural evolution of that drink, and changes a classic but not-so-good mishmash into a deliciously bright and drinkable Manhattanesque whiskey cocktail. Read more
Red Hook Cocktail
So many flavors, so little time. I finally got around to trying the Red Hook Cocktail after Imbibe included it in its cover article on “The 25 Most Influential Cocktails of the Past Century” (Paul Clark, May/June 2010). Whether the Red Hook really has earned a place on that list in the six years since its invention* I really can’t say. I can say that it had an instant and favorable influence on me; at least for now, it has supplanted the Manhattan in my personal cocktail rotation. Read more
Trilby Cocktail (Bourbon)
In my previous post I revealed my hick astonishment that there are so many versions, or personalities, of the Trilby cocktail, and focused on the vermouth version. I was prepping a Manhattan the other evening, and it seemed the obvious opportunity to check out Trilby’s bourbon persona.
