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Pursuing a casual interest in cocktails will lead you through some delicious modern recipes and most of the classics. In fact, many cocktail books, either by way of documenting recipe categories and development, or out of respectful obligation, take their readers through the same forty classic cocktails adding just a handful of embellishments and additions. While that may satisfy some, the more adventurous among us are constantly seeking new flavors and exciting combinations. It's not always necessary to go out of your way to track down hard-to-find ingredients—there are still plenty of daring and innovative drinks that any well-stocked bar can create. Such recipes may break a few rules and challenge conventional thinking, but together they serve, at the very least, as a reference and a source of inspiration for trade professionals. That was the idea, anyway, behind Kirk Estopinal and Maksym Pazuniak's Rogue Cocktails book.
The collectible
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Here is an excellent tipple to add to your weekend repertoire. You might have seen this one appear on the menus at some of your favorite craft cocktail bars recently even though it's more than 80 years old. It dates at least as far back as Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book. This is one of those rediscovered recipes that seems to have legs—bars that were once excited about the Aviation and later, the Last Word are putting this drink into rotation. And they should, because this is a wonderful cocktail.
Of course, the Champs Élysées name is a reference to the fashionable tree-lined avenue in Paris, possibly because of the French ingredients. Certainly, a good French Cognac is going to help the flavor of this drink to a point, but spending too much on the base spirit
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As most of us settle into a weekend of turkey dinner leftovers in all of their various forms, it made sense to feature another riff on a popular classic—not that this is actually a leftover—the Greenpoint is a nice cocktail in it's own right. However, since most drinks evolve from some earlier recipe, I guess this is as much a variation of a Manhattan as a turkey sandwich is a variation of roast turkey. It's important to mention that in addition to evolving from the Manhattan, the Greenpoint is actually one of the Brooklyn neighborhood variants spawned by the Red Hook. It won't be the last that I feature, but it might be the best.
Since the basis for the Greenpoint is the Red Hook, and by extension, the Manhattan, it should come as no surprise
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Last year during the month of October I shared a series of Halloween-themed cocktails that are all great classics. The Corpse Reviver No. 2, Satan's Whiskers, Trader Vic's El Diablo and Don the Beachcomber's Zombie. I couldn't let the month go by without adding another ghoulish recipe to the list. This year I am sharing my interpretation of something I had at the Bradstreet Crafthouse back in January.
Although it's no longer on the menu at Bradstreet, every time I look at the ingredients I am bitten. This is not for the faint of heart. First of all, it's an all-spirits drink, and while that has the benefit of avoiding fresh juices making it easier in some respects, it also packs
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This week I am featuring a simple classic that dates at least as far back as the 1930's when it saw print in The Savoy Cocktail Book. It shows up in other notable texts as well, but its exact origin is unclear. I supposed it could have been named for the incorporation of the Alaska Territory in 1912 or maybe it dates as far back as the original US acquisition from Russia in 1867. Whatever the case, the Alaska cocktail is certainly a classic, and a largely forgotten one at that.
I can't tell you exactly why this drink takes the name of our largest and northernmost state, but the important part to recognize is that it's tasty and easy to make. Not all recipes specify the same measurements, so feel free to experiment a little with the proportions. Everyone does seem to agree that this cocktail is constructed using gin,
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With well over a century under its belt, the Bijou cocktail already enjoys a long history. Yet, even though most bars will have all of the ingredients, you probably won't find many bartenders that know how to make it—despite how simple it is. If you make a few cocktails yourself, you too might already have what you need. The most challenging part is getting your hands on some Green Chartreuse. If you don't already have reason enough to own a bottle, here's one more. Today, our Drink of the Week makes another wonderful excuse to own some, and for me, it represents the perfect all-spirit cocktail to transition into spring.
Bijou means "jewel" in french, and looking at the images of this cocktail, you can understand why it was called by that name. The recipe appears early in
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This installment of the Drink of the Week is actually the last drink of 2010. If you have been following along, that makes 52 cocktail recipes posted over the past year, not including homemade ingredients and numerous other posts in-between. It has been fun to keep the momentum going with weekly features. I want to say thanks to everyone who reads and subscribes to Summit Sips and to those who are friends on Facebook or who follow via Twitter. I especially appreciate those of you who see fit to comment on the posts. Part of the fun that comes with these recipes is hearing what others are trying and discussing the results. To see all of the 2010 Drinks of the Week on one page, I created a special 2010 DOTW Archive that you can also access from the Archives page in the menu above.
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The first good sign of a decent cocktail bar is that they are using fresh ingredients. I'm not talking about lemon twists or lime wedges, I mean that they squeeze their fruit to make juice à la minute, and that they aren't using sour mix. But even if they take the time to use fresh citrus, it doesn't mean they know how to balance a drink. This is when a spirit-driven cocktail can save the day. A quick scan of the back bar may help you pick a winner without asking your bartender if they have this, that or the other thing. Of course, not all good drinks require obscure ingredients, but every once in a while you have to be willing to gather what you need yourself.
I can think of a few good bars in town that could make our drink of the week with what they
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A good friend of mine has been reading a collection of short stories by PG Wodehouse about a character named Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. He came across a passage in the 1924 classic “The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy” in which Bertie recounts his experience at an exhibition at Wembley in North London. There, he is drawn to a Planter’s bar where a man is mixing an unusual West Indian cocktail. Without going into specific detail, he simply states that the drink contains seven ingredients: “A planter, apparently, does not consider he has had a drink unless it contains at least seven ingredients, and I’m not saying, mind you, that he isn’t right. The man behind the bar told us the things were called Green Swizzles; and, if ever I marry and have a son, Green Swizzle Wooster is the name that will
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Recently, I have been enjoying some cocktails made with Chartreuse. According to Camper English of the Alcademics blog, the price of Chartreuse is increasing, nationally, by $11. That's a bit of a hike, considering this stuff isn't cheap to begin with. Still, as he notes, some retailers haven't changed a thing, so now's the time to go buy yourself a bottle.
Chartreuse is a wonderful spirit with a long and interesting history. First introduced in 1605, the spirit is named after the Grande Chartreuse Monastery in the Chartreuse Mountains of France where it originated. Although it is produced in a factory today, it continues to made under the supervision of monks using a secret recipe containing over 130 different herbs, flowers and "other ingredients". There are two variations. Green Chartreuse obtains it's color from the chlorophyl in the herbs and is a strong spirit, weighing in at 110
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