Following on the heels of the Vieux Carré is a drink with remarkably similar ingredients but a drastically different taste: the Cocktail à la Louisiane. Like the VC, it was salvaged from the pages of S.C. Arthur's Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em, deservedly brought back from the edge of the unknown by fellow cocktail geeks: Cocktail à la... Continue Reading →
Well, Mardi Gras was last Tuesday, and I'm sure everyone in the drink blogosphere has been getting an ample dosage of information on the Sazerac, the official cocktail of New Orleans, but nothing doing on this blog...we'll save it for Cocktail Night VII, during which we'll mix up three different versions of the famous drink. In... Continue Reading →
Ah yes, A Christmas Story: a true yuletide classic. Jean Shepherd's composite tale of his childhood Christmas during the Great Depression has always been a family favorite -- I'm sure a lot of people love it -- and I was pleasantly surprised when, upon opening my holiday issue of Imbibe, I discovered a cocktail entitled "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out." Obviously... Continue Reading →
Right now, applejack is quite possibly my favorite spirit. Sure, I love sipping whiskey and trying out new gins, and cognac is great and I'm gradually warming to tequila, but I'll always love applejack. For those of you familiar with this quintessential American spirit, skip ahead a few paragraphs and get to the drinks. For... Continue Reading →
Last month, Imbibe ran a piece on Irish Whiskey that caught my attention, namely because I hadn't tasted or mixed with very many Irish whiskeys. If you've paged through a large number of cocktail books, you'll understand why -- it's just not used in cocktails very often. According to Imbibe the scene is changing, however, and... Continue Reading →
We're getting closer and closer to Fall, and apple brandy is quickly working its way into my drink rotation. Autumn and apples get along splendidly, probably because it's the harvest season, and the marriage of the two (as an idea) has worked its way into the American psyche over three centuries. Today's drink, however, is... Continue Reading →
A truly exquisite little drink, the Tip Top is one of those well-hidden gems that deserves to be known better. Don't be afraid of the amount of vermouth in this one: Tip Top 2 ounces Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat Original Dry) 1/4 ounce Bénédictine 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Stir with ice and strain into a... Continue Reading →
Tempered Spirits 