I love that scene in Amadeus where the Emperor chastises Mozart for using “too many notes.” That cracks me up. Continue reading “The Handsome Devil”
I first encountered Nick Kosevich’s cocktails back in the days when he tended bar at Town Talk in south Minneapolis. (In fact, it was Kosevich’s Sidecar that inspired my first Cold Glass article in 2009.) His back bar was lined with dropper bottles and dashers, evidence of his fascination with tinctures, bitters and flavorings. Continue reading “Trinity Bitters and the Older Fashioned Cocktail”
I’ve been enjoying the Rye Witch, one of Jim Meehan’s originals from his PDT Cocktail Book.
The “witch” part of the name comes from one of the components, Liquore Strega. (“Strega,” by the way, is the Italian word for “witch,” and there is an amusing story there. Continue reading “An evening with the Rye Witch”
The Sazerac has been one of my favorite cocktails for years, and its status as a “go-to” drink has become more entrenched as a wider selection of rye whiskies has come into my market, and especially as proper absinthe became available again.
But there is much more to the Sazerac than good whiskey and an absinthe wash. For starters, there’s cognac. And who knew that genever makes a great Sazerac? Continue reading “Why is there cognac in my Sazerac?”
The Sazerac is a love-it or hate-it kind of cocktail, with no middle ground. It’s a whiskey cocktail embellished with Peychaud’s bitters and an absinthe wash. If you’re put off by the anise and wormwood of absinthe, then the Sazarac will not be your cocktail; otherwise, keep reading—you owe yourself this New Orleans delight. Continue reading “Rye and Absinthe: The Sazarac Cocktail”
The Marlene Dietrich Cocktail is a natural for anyone who enjoys Whiskey Old-Fashioneds and Whiskey Sours.
Legend has it that Dietrich sucked lemons on her movie sets; it seems she believed this would keep her mouth muscles taut for the cameras. Continue reading “The Marlene Dietrich Cocktail”
As I noted in my previous entry, my 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide lists the original “Whiskey Cocktail”—that’s the one we now think of as the “Old-Fashioned.” That same publication provides evidence that the hard-line definition of the “cocktail” was fraying at the edges. Continue reading “Building on the Old-Fashioned—The Improved Whiskey Cocktail”
The term “Old-Fashioned” has come to imply the Whiskey Old-Fashioned, and that’s the drink I’ll focus on for this piece. It is an example of the original “cocktail,” one of the oldest and most successful of American mixed drinks. Continue reading “The Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail”
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…) Continue reading “Cranberry and Bourbon: Reinventing the Bardstown Sling”
