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We have been enjoying the second season of Boardwalk Empire, the HBO television show set in Atlantic City during Prohibition. On the show there is a character played by Dabney Coleman who is called the Commodore. This reminded us of a cocktail we mentioned a few years ago. We suggested it as a classic recipe you could try that makes use of homemade grenadine, but we never actually reviewed the drink itself.
Whether you like the TV series or not, this is a delicious drink worth trying. It's based on a whiskey sour formula, but instead of using simple syrup to balance the lemon juice, the Commodore uses creme de cacao, a chocolate flavored liqueur that has appeared a few times before in the 20th Century, the Floridita and the Chimp in Orbit. It may not be the first time we have used creme de cacao, but it
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Cocktails stay cold in the wind and snow!
When cold weather dominates the land, it's hard not to think about places you might rather be—instead of digging out from the latest snow storm. Why not bring home a little of the exotic, maybe from the not-so-distant Caribbean? This week and next, we will feature two Caribbean cocktails that share something in common: Cuba.
And that's not all they share. Although US readers are legally barred from traveling to Cuba as tourists (let alone enjoying any products that originate there) you should know that Cuba has played an important role in shaping the cocktail landscape. Most notably, a bar called El Floridita in Havana has made many significant contributions—most of them attributed to the 1918 bartender/owner Constantino Ribalaaigua Vert. Constante, as his friends referred to him, featured numerous daiquiris and classic American cocktails on his menu. One daiquiri was named
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Last year around this time I started the Drink of the Week, a journey through classic and contemporary cocktail recipes. The 52 cocktails I chose, along with many that were posted in-between, form a good foundation for 2011. Already, we started the new year with a popular New Orleans classic, the Vieux Carré. This week, however, I thought I would feature a riff on the cocktail that started all of the momentum fifty-three weeks ago.
Last January, I featured the 20th Century Cocktail. You may recall that I mentioned an updated version called the 21st Century. New York bartender, Jim Meehan created a cocktail that puts a nice spin on the original, and while I encourage you to try both for comparison, his goes something like this:
21st Century Cocktail by Jim Meehan 1.5 oz silver tequila .75 oz white crème de cacao .75 oz lemon
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Click here for a newer post with a fantastic homemade cocktail cherries recipe!
If you have visited your grocery store recently you may have noticed that fresh cherries are in season again. Seeing those dark, ripe cherries ready to burst inside the little plastic bins always makes me think about the same thing: homemade cocktail cherries. You may wonder, what's the point? Can't you just buy a jar of bright red maraschino (mar-a-SHEEN-oh) cherries that last forever? Sure you can, but allow me to explain what you are really getting inside that jar and you might reconsider that purchase. Besides, it's not hard to make your own maraschino (mar-a-SKEEN-oh) cherries for special cocktails. As you noticed, there's a pronunciation difference here, but that's just the beginning.
Understanding the point of making your own cocktail cherries requires a brief walk through the history of this garnish. Originally, cocktails were decorated
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Chimp In Orbit, huh? This ought to be good! I admit, it's a really odd name for a drink. So, why monkeys in space?
This week in history. . . I was researching this week in history and found a few things that seemed thematic to me, although not every story has a good ending. First, on this day in 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. I know, it's not a happy event, and it's certainly not an image most of us will forget. So, let's just get the sad stuff out of the way first. In the coming week on February 1, 2003, the world watched in shock and disbelief as the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry. Again, it's another sad day for the space program. Meaning no disrespect to those brave spacefarers who lost their lives, there were a couple positive achievements that also occurred.
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Overview I've thought about this for a while now and finally decided that the new year is a perfect opportunity to start posting a Drink Of The Week (DOTW). Since I just barely made it for the first week of the year, I have not yet decided on the timing for DOTW posts. It makes sense to post before the weekend—like on a Thursday—but as soon as Friday hits, we will be into our second week of the year, so it will actually be the Drink Of Last Week. On the other hand, most people think of the week as starting on a Sunday which completely misses the weekend, and in Minnesota at least, you can't even buy booze on Sunday! So we will start this off on Thursdays and see how it goes.
My goal with DOTW is to go through a basic drink recipe, showing you how to
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Randy explains how best to open a pomegranate and release the precious seeds within as well has how to use the juice from these seeds to make grenadine. Once you've made your own grenadine, there are several delicious recipes to try, including the Singapore Sling, Monkey Gland, and the Commodore Cocktail.
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