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Brandy - ⅔ oz

Apricot Brandy - ⅔ oz

Orange Juice - ⅓ oz

Lemon Juice - ⅓ oz

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add an orange peel.

From The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book. Invented by Laurie Ross.

Combining fruity flavours of apricot, orange and lemon, with sweet brandy as the base; you can never go wrong with a simple Sour like this. The ratio 2:2:1:1 made the dirnk a little bit sweet, despite the presence of a dry apricot brandy.

Paul’s Own

Dry Gin - ⅔ oz

Dry Vermouth - ⅔ oz

Cointreau - ⅓ oz

Curaçao - ⅓ oz

Fernet Branca - 3 dashes

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From Café Royal Cocktail Book. Invented by B. Paul.

This one reminded me of a drink I covered a long time ago: the Silver City cocktail from this very book. The only differences, other than the ratios of course, are substitutions of Grand Marnier for plain old curaçao, and absinthe for Fernet Branca. It is essentially a gin-vermouth-liqueur type of cocktail, which I’m fond of most the time; however the orange liqueurs in this drink are a bad replacement for some of the more interesting liqueurs such as cherry brandy (Royal) or crème de cassis (Parisian). I will say that Paul’s Own turned out better than I hoped, all because of the Fernet Branca amaro. Not only do this kind of herbal bitter liqueurs pair extremely well with the orange flavour, its bitterness also cancels out some of that extra sweetness. All in all, this is a good digestif for those after the dinner occasions.

Snowdrop

Dry Gin - 1 oz

Lemon Juice - ½ oz

Curaçao - ¼ oz

Maraschino - ¼ oz

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From The Café Royal Cocktail Book. Invented by F. Benniman.

This is another recipe originally called for “white curaçao”, now the closest thing to a clear curaçao today would be triple sec or Cointreau, since technically triple sec is a curaçao liqueur. You can however use orange curaçao instead if you think that would provide a closer flavour result to the original, the downside being that the colour will not look like a “snowdrop” anymore.

The common “problem” with using Cointreau or triple sec in equal part to lemon juice in a White Lady style Sour is that it’s a little on the dry side for the majority of us; whereas maraschino liqueur on the other hand is too pungent and sweet. Though a combination of the two liqueurs makes for a perfectly balanced Gin Sour containing a complex flavour mixture of cherry and citrus.

Birdy Mixing Tin

So my long-awaited mixing tin has finally arrived, again, it exceeded my expectation just like the Birdy shaker did. Similar to how the inside of the Birdy shaker has verticle grains to assist the movement of the ice cubes, the Birdy mixing tin has horizontal grains on the inside surface. The tin itself is a lot heavier than I thought it would be, much sturdier than your average Boston tin, this is important when making a stirred drink.

Tin vs Glass

I think most bartenders would agree that metal is a far better material than glass when it comes to bar tools; even Simon Difford favours the 2-tin Boston shaker as opposed to the tin-glass shaker. Metal being a better conductor, will chill the drink down far quicker than glass would, as well as preventing the drink from becoming over-diluted. Take the Yarai mixing glass for example, it’s a heavy and thick piece of glassware, which means not only does the ice have to chill the liquid, but at the same time chills the glass itself, and this results in a watery cocktail. A way around that would be chilling the mixing glass ahead of time, but this of course could take up precious time, space and effort. Tin on the other hand does not require any extra chilling, when it’s filled with ice cubes the tin will cool down almost instantly without resulting in watery ice.

That is not to say mixing glasses do not have their own merit. The obvious advantage of using a crystal-clear mixing glass is that it allows the drinkers to see exactly what went inside their drinks; plus the spiralling clear ingredients and transparent ice is quite a sight to behold. They do say we drink a cocktail with our eyes first, then nose, and tongue lastly. So I guess it all depends on what you value more: the appearance or the function.

#elixir for the soul

Pineapple Fizz

Cuban Rum - 2 oz

Pineapple Juice - 1 oz

Superfine Sugar - ½ tbsp

Soda Water - 3 oz

Shake rum, pineapple juice and sugar with ice and strain into a chilled medium tumbler. Fill with soda water.

From The Savoy Cocktail Book.

When I see no citrus juice in this recipe, I didn’t have much expectation for this Fizz, I mean, with pineapple juice instead of lemon juice, and still adding extra sugar to it, wouldn’t it be a little too sweet for a Fizz? However the result is quite different from what I imagined, with a decent amount of soda water, this can be just as refreshing and tasty as a traditional Gin Fizz. Not to mention using rum instead of gin in this Pineapple Fizz is a good call, for rum and pineapple are pretty much made for each other.

I do apologise for the hiatus in the last few weeks, being on holiday had made me a little lazier, hopefully I will put out more stuff regularly from now on. In fact I’m sure I will.

Alaska

Dry Gin - 1½ oz

Yellow Chartreuse - ½ oz

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From The Savoy Cocktail Book.

“So far as can be ascertained this delectable potion is NOT the staple diet of the Esquimaux. It was probably first thought of in South Carolina - hence its name.”

It’s a simple duo cocktail, consisting of 3 parts dry gin and 1 part yellow (milder) Chartreuse; and that’s all is needed to make a flavourful potion. Consider how much I love Chatreuse cocktails, it should come as no surprise that I would happily make this my staple diet had I only the resources to maintain a steady supply of Chatreuse.

It’s a fairly sweet and rich beverage, but not to an unbearable degree. After all it’s made up of mostly dry gin. But if you prefer a drier version of the cocktail, David A. Embury in his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks recommends using a 5:1 to 7:1 proportion and even adding some dry sherry to taste. A twist of lemon peel over the top can enhance the aroma even further.

Eider Duck

Cognac - ½ oz

Kirschwasser - ½ oz

Grand Marnier - ½ oz

Lemon Juice - ½ oz

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From The Café Royal Cocktail Book. Invented by C. A. Gadina.

What’s this got to do with a species of duck?

A Sour similar to a Side-Car cocktail, but instead of just cognac for the base, this one uses two brandies: cognac and cherry eau de vie; and instead of having Cointreau as the sweetener, this replaces it with Grand Marnier to further bring out the cognac flavour; yet the cherry brandy still managed to be upfront both on the nose and palate.

Birdy Shaker & Barspoon

Yes I already have like a dozen shakers and who knows how many barspoons, but how can I resist the Birdy bar tools? Designed by Tetsuya Yokoyama, endorsed by Erik Lorincz - the head bartender of the American Bar, Savoy Hotel, London; I just had to have one of my own.

The egg-shaped shaker has no sharp edges and features straight vertical grains which allows the ice cubes to travel quickly and smoothly without breaking, this produces a silky smooth shaken drink containing a lot of air bubbles; the Pineapple Fizz I just made is a testament to that.

The Birdy barspoon is one of those things that made me say “why hasn’t this been done before?” The barspoon has been polished so well that it slides without any resistence between your fingers. And rather than having those useless forks that are neither sharp nor pointy enough to pick up any cherry or olive, the Birdy barspoon has a tiny strainer that allows your to strain off the excess water after you chilled your glassware with ice cubes. Why pull out another strainer when you can just flip your barspoon around?

I also ordered a Birdy mixing glass that’s still on its way from Japan. How self-indulgent am I?

Delusion

White Crème de Menthe - ⅔ oz

Apricot Brandy - ⅓ oz

Lime Juice - ½ oz

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From Tom Bullock’s The Ideal Bartender.

One of those confusing recipes that seemingly uses fractions as measurements, yet the fractions don’t add up to one, so it could only mean that those fractions indicate fractions of an ounce. I happened to have this fairly small claret glass that I wanted to try, so I kept the size as it is. If you want to use a regular 3-ounce cocktail glass then go with this recipe instead: 1 ounce of menthe; ½ ounce of apricot brandy; and ¾ ounce of lime juice.

The drink kind of reminds me of Harry MacElhone’s original White Lady cocktail. MacElhone’s earlier version of the White Lady consists of crème de menthe, Cointreau, and lemon juice; Delusion cocktail replaces Cointreau with apricot brandy and lemon with lime. I wouldn’t say I’m generally fond of the artificial minty flavour found in menthe liqueurs, but I can’t deny that lime juice certainly worked well with that type of mint in this case.

Blackthorne Sour

Sloe Gin - 2 oz

Lemon Juice or Lime Juice - 4 dashes

Pineapple Syrup - 1 tsp

Green Chartreuse - ½ tsp

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a wine glass, ornament with fruits.

From Tom Bullock’s The Ideal Bartender.

Though the recipe was original stirred, I felt that with so many ingredients and citrus juice, the drink needs to be shaken instead. When it comes to the amount of citrus juice, think of a dash as either 1 teaspoon or ½ tablespoon. If you choose to use lemon juice instead of lime, you can be more generous with the “dashes”, but I certainly favour lime juice in this Sour.

It has quite a complex flavour, with bittersweet sloe gin on the front, pineapple and citrus for support, and just a touch of herbaceous note from the Chartreuse.

Gin Fiz

Genever - 2 oz

Lemon Juice - 3 dashes

Superfine Sugar - ½ tbsp

Soda Water - 2 oz

Build all ingredients in a medium tumbler with one piece of ice, stir well.

From Jerry Thomas’ The Bar-Tender’s Guide, 1887.

The name isn’t a misspelling. The Fiz (or Fizz) did not appear in Jerry Thomas’ books until this 1887 edition, and all of his Fizzes are spelled with only one “z”.

Thomas’ way of preparing the Gin Fiz is also quite different from how we do it today. The common method would be to shake everything apart from carbonated water and strain into a fizz glass, and then filling it up with soda/seltzer. Thomas built the drink with a lump of ice, similar to how his Tom Collins is prepared, in fact his Gin Fiz is merely a Tom Collins but on a much smaller scale.

Despite Old Tom gin was used for both Thomas’ Silver Fiz and Golden Fiz, Holland gin is chosen for the Gin Fiz; Silver and Golden Fizzes are shaken and strained since they both contain part of an egg, whereas the Gin/Whiskey/Brandy/Santa Cruz Fizzes are built with a piece of ice. Depending on your taste, go with ½ ounce to ¾ ounce of lemon juice - think of a “dash” as 1 teaspoon or ½ tablespoon. Build it in a 8-ounce fizz glass, use a medium-sized ice lump (or a relatively large ice cube). An interesting way to serve the Fiz is stir in the sugar at the very last, this causes the soda to fizz up very quickly.

Imperial (Johnson)

Maraschino - 1 oz

Dry Vermouth - 1 oz

Absinthe - 2 dashes

Orange Bitters - 2 dashes

Stir well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a cherry and squeeze a lemon peel on top.

From Harry Johnson’s The New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual.

Last time I did an Imperial Cocktail from The Savoy Cocktail Book. The Savoy’s version is the most common one today, it consists of half gin and half dry vermouth, a dash of maraschino and a dash of Angostura bitters - basically a cherry-flavoured Martini. Harry Johnson’s Imperial Cocktail is little different: gin is gone, in its place a large amount of maraschino liqueur, balanced by the same amount of French vermouth, and seasoned with absinthe and orange bitters. I say “balanced”, well it’s definitely nowhere near. For all those who are familiar with the powerfulness of maraschino, you’d know that no amount of lemon juice or dry wine is going to balance the richness and sweetness of an full ounce of maraschino. But I suppose there are people out there who can sip maraschino neat, so this drink should be a walk in the park for them.

In all honesty the sweetness in this one is not all that bad. Yes it’s definitely more suited as an after-dinner beverage, and yes the maraschino’s flavour is too dominating, but you should be able to pick up some of the more delicate herbaceous and bitter notes hiding in the background.

Champs Elysées

Cognac - 1½ oz

Chartreuse - ½ oz

Lemon Juice - ½ oz

Sugar Syrup - ¼ oz

Angostura Bitters - 1 dash

Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

From The Savoy Cocktail Book.

I have tried this drink about three years ago, and it certainly deserves a redo. If you are like me and enjoys the complex flavour of Chartreuse liqueur, then this one should most pleasant. It is quite similar to another cocktail from The Savoy Cocktail Book: the Biter Cocktail. The Biter is a gin-based Sour sweetened with Chartreuse, and seasoned with a dash of absinthe; if you replace the gin with brandy, and absinthe with Angostura, the Champs Elysées Cocktail is born.

The original recipe is meant for 6 people, which means I had to scale it down to a single serving; also it called for “sweetened lemon juice” which could be referring to something like a sour mix, so in this case I changed that to fresh lemon juice and sugar (syrup). Although I used ¼ ounce of syrup, for those who prefer a tarter drink you may want to reduce that to just a teaspoon or less.

For a drink with more depth go with green Chartreuse; and for a smoother drink use yellow Chartreuse instead.

Zenith Cooler (Meier)

Gin - 2 oz

Pineapple Syrup - 1 tbsp

Soda Water - 4 oz

Build everything in a long tumbler with three or four lumps of ice. Garnish with a piece of pineapple.

From Frank Meier’s The Artistry of Mixing Drinks.

In contrast to Robert Vermeire’s Zenith Cooler, Frank Meier’s version is far inferior. Replacing freshly squeezed pineapple juice and sugar with pineapple syrup is not just going to make the flavour worse, but it changes the flavour altogether. So rather than a refreshing Pineapple Collins, you get this almost gin + commercial pineapple soda mixture. You have to have a minimum of 4 ounces of soda/seltzer to balance the intense sweetness of the syrup, so use a large 14-ounce glassware, otherwise build the drink with slightly smaller pieces of ice.

I bought this large jigger yesterday, it measures up to 6 ounces or 180 millilitres. Why is this useful? Well a common “measurement” in old cocktail recipes is a “bottle” of mixer: soda/seltzer, ginger ale, lemon soda etc. A “bottle” in the olden days is the equivalent of 6 or 6.5 ounces, that’s where this large jigger comes in handy. Sometimes you do want to be a little more accurate with the amount of mixer you add; using a small 1.5-ounce or 2-ounce jigger to measure a mixer means you will have to do several pours, and in doing so you will certainly lose a lot of carbonation; but with this large 6-ounce jigger, it can be done with just one single pour. So from now on, not only will this save me some precious seconds, it also saves me a lot of bubbles.

Zenith Cooler

Gin - 2 oz

Pineapple - 1 slice

Sugar Syrup - 1 tsp

Soda Water - 2 oz

Juice the slice of pineapple and strain the juice. Build everything with 2 lumps of ice in a long tumbler. Stir well and garnish with piece of pineapple.

From Robert Vermeire’s Cocktails: How to Mix Them.

A simple and refreshing pineapple Cooler. You can use pineapple juice from a carton if you cannot be bothered to juice your own, but the result is surely not going to be quite as good. Be generous with slice of pineapple, an average thickness should yield roughly 2 ounces of juice. Depending on the sweetness of your pinapple, adjust the amount of syrup to your taste. Also increase the amount of soda if you want a drier and softer drink.

Baltimore Egg Nogg

Madeira - 2 oz

Brandy - ½ oz

Jamaican Rum - ¼ oz

Egg Yolk - 1

Superfine Sugar - 2 tsp

Milk - 6 oz

In a mixing glass, beat the egg yolk, sugar, mixed with a little grated nutmeg and cinnamon to a cream. Add the other ingredients and 3 or 4 lumps of ice, shake well and strain into a large tumbler. Grate a little nutmeg on top.

From Harry Johnson’s The New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual.

I’ve been meaning to do this drink for Christmas time, but as you know I was way too busy last month, well better late than never I suppose. So here it is, one month later, the Baltimore Egg Nogg.

This Egg Nogg or Eggnog differs from the normal Egg Nogg by the addition of Madeira wine. While in most recipe books this drink is prepared in a large batch, Harry Johnson very nicely provided this single-serving version; the main difference between his Egg Nogg and that of Jerry Thomas’ is the ratio between the fortified wine and the spirit(s). Thomas’ version has four times as much base spirit as the wine, while Johnson uses Madeira as a base and much less spirit(s) to fortifiy it.

There are some uncertain parts in Johnson’s recipe that needs a little interpreting. It’s mixed in a “large bar glass” which is more or less the equivalent of today’s Boston mixing glass, however its volume can vary between 12 to 16 ounces. I’ve chosen to use the modern mixing glass to prepare this one, after adding 4 average-sized ice lumps, it allowed me to fill exactly 6 ounces of milk; in my opinion this worked perfectly - not too strong and not too weak. After the shaking you will need a 16-ounce tumbler or collins glass to strain it in, again it should be able to be filled exactly to the top.

This is fine alternative to your average Egg Noggs, for if you get bored of them, you might want to try this softer and nuttier version.

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