Cocktail Recipes, Books, Tips

Recipes

These are not my own recipes, just ones I like (some will be modified to my taste though).  I’ll add to this list as I have the energy to do so…

Please note all the recipes involving gin say to STIR, not shake.  The only people who shake gin are James Bond and terrible bartenders.

Negroni:
1.5oz gin
0.75oz sweet vermouth
0.75oz Campari
2 dash orange bitters

stir over ice, pour into a chilled glass (a champagne saucer is a nice choice if you have one). Garnish with lemon zest.

Note – Every negroni you order in a bar will be equal parts gin/vermouth/campari.  That is for suckers!  Also, the orange bitters are not a necessity, but a great touch.

Last Words:
0.75oz gin
0.75oz green chartreuse
0.75oz maraschino liqueur
0.75oz fresh lime juice

Stir with ice

Sazerac:
1.5-2oz rye whisky
2 dash peychauds bitters
1 sugar cube
absinthe
essence of lemon zest

Muddle bitters & sugar, add whisky, shake with ice.
Rinse rocks glass with absinthe, pour in your mix, add lemon essence. No garnish.

Paloma:
2oz tequila
3oz grapefruit juice
0.5oz lime juice

serve over rocks.

WARNING! If you order one at a bar, they will almost certainly sub the grapefruit juice for a soda like Fresca

Aviation:
2oz gin
0.5oz lemon juice
0.25oz maraschino liqueur
1 dash creme de violette
lemon zest for garnish

Stir with ice. Serve over rocks

Caipirinha:
2oz cachaca
1 lime – sliced
1 sugar cube

muddle sugar/lime. Add ice & cachaca, stir.

Biter:
4.5oz gin
2.25oz sweet lemon juice
2.25oz green chartreuse
dash absinthe

Stir w/ ice

Fratelli:
2oz Rittenhouse 100 rye
0.5oz Carpano Antica
0.5oz Yellow Chartreuse
0.25oz Fernet Branca

Stir w/ ice, strain. Garnish with lemon peel twist

Whisky Fix:
2 sugar cubes
2 dash lime juice
0.5oz pineapple syrup
4oz whisky

Stir in glass with shaved ice, garnish with fruit of your pleasing.

Deadly Sin:
– 2oz Bourbon
– 1/3oz Sweet Vermouth
– 1/4oz Maraschino Liqueur
– 1 dash Orange Bitters

Stir w/ ice, strain in chilled glass, garnish w/ orange twist

Meiner:
– 2oz Orange Juice
– 1oz Gin
– 3/4oz Campari

Serve over ice with orange slice in the glass.  I think it may need less Campari…

Books

Some classics and not-so-classics.  Most of these are books fellow drunkards have gotten me as gifts.  Will add as i can think of them.

The Savoy Cocktail Book

Boozehound

Absinthe: HIstory in a Bottle

Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails

Tips & Random Thoughts

Absinthe.

The US stuff generally stinks, still.  Not because of any long-ago rules about thujone content or any other witchcraft, but because the distillers here just don’t care enough about quality yet.  Most of what I’ve found tastes like little more than high proof grain alcohol with anise and food coloring.

That said, it’s so worth buying the real stuff.  This place is the best.  Jade is tops, but everything they sell there is really good.  Buy four bottles and get a discount.

Ice.

Too many people screw up a good drink with ice.  Here are a few rules without getting too snobby about it…

1) Unless a drink should be served over ice, don’t do it!  Shake/stir your drink in ice, but strain that crap out when you serve.  Also, chill your damn glass.  Crushed ice & water in the glass while you prep the drink will get the job done.

2) Experiment with types of ice, but develop some habits/rules.  Sugary/sweet drinks with lots of fruit juice do best with crushed/shaved ice that helps dillute some of that sweetness.  Boozey drinks usually like cubes that don’t water things down as quickly.  But what about herbal drinks?  Find out for yourself, taste the difference!

3) If you live in one of the rare areas with really good and neutral tasting tap water, you can probably get by filtering that water and making your own ice.  If your water tastes like a pond, metal, dirt, fish, etc – go buy a bag from the store.  Don’t spend a fortune on ingredients just to ruin your drink with funky ice.

Mixing Technique.

There are a ton of YouTube videos on this, so I won’t waste much time here… but when drinks require shaking, you generally have to really shake them.

More to come whenever I feel like it…

Comments

5 responses to “Cocktail Recipes, Books, Tips”

  1. Horatio Salazar Avatar

    For this homosexual, the “Last Words” Cocktail and “Final Word Cocktail” should be indeed shaken. The Final Ward substitutes Rye instead of the Gin and a lemon instead of the Lime.

    Shake the Aviation Mf’er as well.

    STIR the sazerac!

    Rule seems to be if it has juice….shake the fucking beast. If the drink is mostly booze mixed with vermouth or a liquer/cordial….stir the maniac.

    I AM A TRUE AMERICAN EVEN THOUGH MY NAME IS HORIATIONAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  2. Jay Ratkowski Avatar
    Jay Ratkowski

    I hear that the darker the ingredients (vermouth, whiskey, etc) the more vigorous you need to be. IE – shake that shit. I also cannot find any real proof that shaking gin does anything that a real human being can detect.

    Who gives a damn, just get everything mixed and don’t add any fucking Sprite.

  3. Horatio Salazar Avatar

    Stop reading about booze in Men’s Health Magazine. FOLLOW MY RULES AND YOU WILL BE FOREVER PROUD!

    1. Shoaib Avatar
      Shoaib

      But the sickly-sweetness is what I must have. My taste buds never made it past prhoceosl. Perhaps it’s because I don’t usually eat dessert. I must do some serious scientific research this weekend: Chocolate cake followed by a dry drink.

  4. Horatio Salazar Avatar

    Shaking anything with a considerable amount of vermouth in it is a fatty disguise trick.

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