I characterize the Metropole as a brandy-based cocktail, though the original formula suggested equal parts brandy and vermouth.
Probably invented somewhere around 1890, the Metropole was the house cocktail of New York City’s Metropole Hotel. Continue reading “The Metropole Cocktail”
Satan’s Whiskers is a Bronx Cocktail with a suit and tie. I like the Bronx, but it’s quite spartan compared to the lush richness of Satan’s Whiskers. If I had to pick one or the other, the Satan’s Whiskers Cocktail is my choice. Continue reading “The Satan’s Whiskers Cocktail”
Modern cocktail guides have done El Presidente a terrible disservice. They typically describe a sweet, fruity rum cocktail—a cloying, undrinkable embellishment of the original. They do not describe the classic El Presidente.
Continue reading “A return to Havana — the El Presidente Cocktail”
Quick! What color is the Blue Moon Cocktail?
It’s blue, right? It’s called the Blue Moon.
Yes and no. As it turns out, the original Blue Moon was… red. Continue reading “What color is the Blue Moon Cocktail?”
Do you remember the first cocktail you made? Continue reading “What was your first cocktail?”
The Bombay Cocktail is an obscure bit of greatness from Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. If anise or absinthe is part of your palate, if the Sazerac or the Corpse Reviver are on your regular list of suspects, then spend some time with the Bombay. Continue reading “Absinthe and Brandy—The Bombay Cocktail”
Since I’m not much of a Scotch cocktail drinker, my recent addition of the Affinity to my short repertoire of Scotch whisky-based cocktails was sort of a surprise. In addition to giving me another option to do up for my Scotch-drinking friends, this one gives me an alternative when the smoked salmon is out for hors d’oeuvres. Properly made, it is a very pleasant drink. Continue reading “Affinity Cocktail”
The Trilby seems to be another cocktail with something of an identity crisis. I first learned of it from Paul Clark’s article on aperitifs. It wasn’t until I turned to the Savoy Cocktail Book to refresh my memory about the formula and found a recipe I didn’t recognize that I began to suspect that ordering a Trilby in a bar could have unpredictable results. The Trilby that the Savoy knows is a completely different cocktail, with absinthe and parfait amour utterly changing the taste, and even the color, of the drink. Continue reading “Trilby Cocktail (Vermouth)”
Here’s my list of five ways that bartenders have screwed up my martinis:
