Category: Food and Drink

Paradise. Mmmm. I’m thinking beaches and palm trees, and someone bringing me cold drinks on the beach. I don’t immediately place gin there, but I could be convinced. This looks like a pretty sweet cocktail on the tin, but this is the same in all three books. That dash of lemon juice doesn’t look like… Continue reading Paradise Cocktail

When I think of Pall Mall, I think of cigarettes, which for me, as a non-smoker, is not the greatest association. This is another recipe that I get to use my crème de menthe in though, so that definitely piqued my interest. It’s interesting to see where a hint of mint can really add to… Continue reading Pall Mall Cocktail

This doesn’t have the most appealing name. Apparently this was pretty much a made up concoction with a weird, made up name, to intrigue people into drinking it. Art of Drink has the whole story. Lommebogen has the basic mixers matching up with Savoy and Café Royal, but the base spirit is quite different. It… Continue reading Monkey Gland Cocktail

Following on the heels of the Manhattan, here with go with probably the most well-known classic cocktail: the Martini. This is an iconic drink that has been destroyed by the flavored vodka world. I’m going to leave that alone and just move on. The modern age has also dried Martinis out to the point where… Continue reading Martini (Sweet and Dry)

Most people have heard of the Manhattan. It is one of the big, classic cocktails out there. I could go into the history of the drink and extol its virtues, but there are plenty of posts out there already. I will say that the Manhattan is a drink after my own heart. Whiskey will always… Continue reading Manhattan (Sweet and Dry)

Following on the heels of the aptly named Kicker cocktail, we have the Knock Out. I’m guessing that the absinthe in here (at least for Lommebogen and Savoy) is the reason for this name. This was the first time I needed to use Crème de Menthe so I took myself down to Juul’s to see… Continue reading Knock Out Cocktail

I’m thinking this drink is supposed to give you a kick. It’s strong. It’s interesting to mix two spirits that I like quite a lot, rum and calvados (or applejack), but it certainly doesn’t put any effort into covering up the fact that this is just a bunch of straight liquor mixed together. The Recipe… Continue reading Kicker Cocktail

I haven’t really had much in the way of apple spirits before. Not long ago I picked up a bottle of Laird’s Straight Bonded Apple Brandy. Laird’s is well known as Apple Jack, which is the Bonded’s little sibling. It has a long tradition in America. In Europe apple spirits are known as apple brandy… Continue reading Jack Rose Cocktail

This recipe makes a tiny cocktail, so to get a more normal sized drink you would probably want to at least double this, if not triple it. It pretty much ends up being a shot of Irish whiskey with a twist. It has a sweetener and some bitters, so it has the classic cocktail parts,… Continue reading Irish Cocktail

Why doesn’t this have rum in it? That’s what I think about when I think of Havana. Anyway, this is definitely an unexpected mix of ingredients for a cocktail with this name. I couldn’t find any history about it online, and I don’t have older cocktail books to reference where it may have come from.… Continue reading Havana Cocktail