The Intoxicologist

Put a flavorful twist into your relaxing weekend the Italian way with a little amaretto addition to the modern classic Cosmopolitan cocktail.  This version weighs a slightly different flavor to the taste experience than the usual Sex and the City cocktail fair hued pink drink.  This version gives away the hint of almond immediately in aroma with medium flavor throughout.  Who knows, there might be a little Cosmo in all of us after all…

Italian Cosmo – adapted by Cheri Loughlin

1 ounce Amaretto

1 ounce Vodka

1/2 ounce Tuaca

1 ounce Cranberry Juice

1/2 ounce Lime Juice

Lime Twist Garnish

Combine liquids in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake to blend and chill.  Strain into chilled martini glass.  Garnish with fresh lime twist. 

Modern Classic Cocktails

Hennessy Martini – Seelbach Cocktail – Stiletto – Burnt Orange Kir – American Cocktail

Legends Cocktail

Find The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Email: str8upcocktails@gmail.com

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

All opinions, reviews and spirits’ coverage contained within are the personal opinion and decision of Cheri Loughlin, The Intoxicologist.

Sours are one of the most challenging cocktails to nail down in proper proportion. Too much sour in the cocktail recipe and facial features distort as lips pucker to the distinct mouth watering bite in the tart flavor experience.  Adding too much sweet to the mix makes the sour drink something new altogether.  Though August 25 is earmarked as National Whiskey Sour Day it is possible to substitute a favorite base spirit for whiskey in a basic sour recipe.

Basic Sour Recipe

2 ounces Base Spirit

3/4 ounce Sour (Fresh Lemon or Lime Juice)

1 ounce Sugar or Simple Syrup

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake hard to chill completely and create frothy texture.  Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice.  Garnish with lemon twist or orange slice with maraschino cherry.  When shaken properly, sour and sugar combination create fizzy top to the drink without the need for added egg white.

There are stories that circulate as to how the Whiskey Sour came into play within history.  According to some, the Whiskey Sour’s creation was in direct correlation to sailors fighting scurvy due to vitamin deficiency.  Preservation of the fruit due to long periods at sea made the creation of sour drinks part of natural progression.  Another tale weaves the story of an English steward who opened a bar in a Peruvian city.  His signature drink creation became known as the sour for its tart taste.  No matter the historical record of the Whiskey Sour or how sours in general came to be established in the saga of cocktails, there are always variations to the basic sour recipe for the sheer enjoyment of flavor delight.

Whiskey Sour – The Flowing Bowl, William Schmidt 1892

Place juice from half a lemon or lime in bottom of mixing glass.

Squirt of Seltzer

Sugar to Taste

Drink of Whiskey

Ice

Mix well. Strain and serve. 

Big Fellow Apricot Sour – Stephen Siebert, Philadelphia, PA

1-1/2 parts Michael Collins Single Malt

3/4 part Honey Syrup

3/4 part fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 part fresh Orange Juice

1 bar spoon Apricot Jam

1 small Egg White

3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Wide Orange Twist Garnish

Combine all ingredients (except bitters and garnish) in cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously to blend and chill.  Double strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.  Garnish with bitters and orange twist.

New York Sour

2 ounces Rye Whiskey or Bourbon

Juice of half a lemon

1/4 ounce Simple Syrup to Taste

1/2 ounce Red Wine

Egg white Optional

Lemon Slice & Fresh Cherry Garnish

Combine whiskey, lemon juice and simple syrup (egg white optional) in cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously.  Strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.  Float red wine over top.  Garnish with lemon slice and fresh cherry.

More sour cocktails to enjoy include the Pisco Sour, the Ginger Sour with SKYY Infusions Ginger Vodka, Absolut Berri Acai Sour, the Finlandia Grapefruit Vodka Nirvana Sour-Aperitif, Barenjager’s Sour Bee, the 1800 Tequila California Sour, the Buffalo Sour, Beefeater Gin’s 24 Sour, and the Canadian Club Sour.

Find The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Email: str8upcocktails@gmail.com

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

All opinions, reviews and spirits’ coverage contained within are the personal opinion and decision of Cheri Loughlin, The Intoxicologist.

Happy Hour martinis take many forms.  In times past the martini meant vodka or gin served straight up in a martini glass with possibly an olive or two bouncing happily to dirty the spirit.  This is no longer the case with bars serving alternate forms of cocktails with the word martini in the mix.  It causes lively debate over what constitutes a true ‘martini’ but what it boils down to for the majority of bar patrons is all in the taste.  The Alternating Kurrant Martini plays out simply sweet with just a touch of raspberry hinting through in the initial taste.  This cocktail flavors subtly with dry vermouth shadowing any harsh edges straight liquor sometimes brings to the taste experience.

Alternating Kurrant Martini – Purple Martini, Denver

3 ounces Absolut Kurrant Vodka

Splash Chambord

Splash Dry Vermouth

Lemon Twist Garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in mixing glass with ice.  Stir to chill completely.  Strain into chilled martini glass.  Garnish with fresh lemon twist.

Notation: Since this cocktail contains straight spirits and the idea is full enjoyment of a thoroughly chilled cocktail my recommendation when making this at home is as follows: half the recipe to 1-1/2 ounces Absolut Kurrant, 1/4 ounce Chambord and 1/4 ounce Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth.  This keeps the martini smaller but chilled throughout the entire sipping time for a more fulfilling experience.  Think measure, stir, strain, enjoy, repeat rather than gulping.  This keeps a cocktail at its ultimate pleasure point while sipping.

The Alternating Kurrant Martini recipe can be found in The Martini Companion by Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan.  More Absolut Vodka drinks of interest include the South Slope Sour and Spiked Core with Absolut Brooklyn, the lower calorie Ruby Weekdays long drink, Berrily a Mojito with Absolut Berri Acai and three more recipes found in the press release.  Don’t forget the Absolut Boston flavor with black tea and elderflower infusion: Monumentally Raspberry Boston, Boston Apricot Sidecar and Boston Girlfriend with three more brand recipes included in the official press release.

Find The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Email: str8upcocktails@gmail.com

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

All opinions, reviews and spirits’ coverage contained within are the personal opinion and decision of Cheri Loughlin, The Intoxicologist.

Though travelers the world over complain about the state of airline accommodations, the cost of checking baggage, layovers, delays and the continual increase in fees incurred for the privilege of flying the vast open skies, at least once a year we pay homage to two men who made aviation possible.  National Aviation Day honors the endeavors of Orville and Wilbur Wright.  August 19 was chosen as Wright’s Brother’s Day since it is the birthday of Orville Wright and was created by presidential proclamation by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939.

The Aviation and Aviation Cocktail No. 1 recipes are widely known favorites in classic cocktail books.  Brands, bartenders and mixologists continue adapting the Aviation recipe to suit particular tastes, specific gins and varying liqueurs.  You could say the Aviation recipe veers off course now and again taking differing flight patterns for renewed twist on an old classic favorite.

Aviation No. 1 – Simon Difford, The Cabinet Room, London

Adapted from Hugo R. Esslin’s 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks

1-3/4 ounces Tanqueray London Dry Gin

1/2 ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

1/4 ounce Benoit Serres Crème de Violette

1/2 ounce Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

1/2 ounce Chilled Mineral Water

Lemon Zest Twist Garnish (Sugar Rim Optional)

Place all liquid ingredients in Boston shaker with ice.  Shake to blend and chill. Fine strain into chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with lemon zest twist.

More variations on the classic Aviation cocktail and fanciful flight related drink recipes may be found in Aviation Day Recipes to Celebrate the Day.  If you love gin and classically inspired drink recipes then Gin Temptation Recipes for Any Occasion and reader’s picks of Top 10 Classic Cocktails might also interest you.

Simon Difford’s adaptation of the Aviation No. 1 and The Mary Pickford adaptation by Bryan Dayton were both sampled at Diageo’s VIP Cocktails through the Decades Cocktail Hour at Tales of the Cocktail 2010 in New Orleans.  Valentino’s Demise using Clynelish 14 Year Old was also sampled at the same event.

Find The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Email: str8upcocktails@gmail.com

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

Those who become legendary offer more than empty notoriety behind a name.  They are more than the latest movie theater listing or rag magazine headline.  Legends offer a guiding light toward the future.  Dale DeGroff created an exceptional cocktail for a Legends event hosted by Oprah Winfrey in 2005.  This event honored a specific group for their legendary role in history.  There are extraordinary people living among us every day with valuable lessons to impart and amazing stories to share.  These could be those with youthful perception or those who have become frail and dependent.  The question is; will you take time to listen?

Legends Cocktail – The Essential Cocktail, Dale DeGroff

1 small piece Ginger Root

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce St-Germain

1-1/2 ounce Vodka

1/2 ounce White Cranberry Juice

3/4 ounce Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

Spiral Lemon Peel Garnish

Orange Slice, Sugar & Ground Ginger for Dusting Glass

Combine 4 parts sugar to 1 part ground ginger in mixing tray.  Rim cocktail glass with orange slice.  Dip outer rim of glass in sugar mix to frost.  Set aside and then chill the glass. 

Place ginger root and liqueurs in bottom of mixing glass.  Muddle.  Add vodka and juices with ice.  Shake well to blend and chill.  Strain into chilled ginger sugar rimmed glass.  Garnish with spiral lemon peel. 

Notation: The Legends Cocktail just wouldn’t be the same without the easy to mix frosted rim.  The sweetly spiced gingered rim tips off this cocktail perfectly sip after sip.  Read about the creative thought process behind the Legends Cocktail in Dale DeGroff’s book, The Essential Cocktail.  You’ll find this recipe on page 240 in the Innovations chapter along with a few other simply irresistibly delightful concoctions.

Modern Classic Cocktails

Hennessy Martini – Seelbach Cocktail – Stiletto – Burnt Orange Kir – American Cocktail

Find The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon or Email: str8upcocktails@gmail.com

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

All opinions, reviews and spirits’ coverage contained within are the personal opinion and decision of Cheri Loughlin, The Intoxicologist.