Improved Japanese Cocktail

What qualifies as a Tiki drink? This article by Doug Winship I found today makes it clear that it's not a simple question. Apparently people have strong and differing opinions on this issue. I always thought anything vaguely tropical or beachy involving rum probably qualified, and Doug basically agrees with this. But he cites an article by Humuhumu that argues that a drink has to be created in a Tiki bar to really qualify - knocking out things like the Daiquiri, the Singapore Sling, the Pina Colada, all of which were created in actual foreign, tropical locations rather than under a plastic bamboo awning in Los Angeles. It's kind of funny to think that it's the inauthenticity that actually makes an authentic Tiki cocktail.

I'm not sure the Improved Japanese Cocktail would qualify as Tiki under most criteria. It was not created at a Tiki bar. It has no elaborate garnish, and it doesn't even contain rum. But it does contain orgeat, and lots of it, which made me think Tiki as soon as I took a sip. Orgeat is an almond syrup. It's used in the Mai Tai and a number of other Tiki drinks, and I think of it as a thoroughly Tiki ingredient. But it turns out that orgeat pre-dates Tiki by quite a lot. Jerry Thomas was serving up cocktails containing orgeat in the 1860's, most notably the Japanese Cocktail, which this cocktail is based on: Cognac, orgeat, and bitters. The "improvement" is the addition of lemon juice.

So if you want some of the flavor of Tiki in classic cocktail form, the Improved Japanese Cocktail might be for you.

History: This cocktail comes from Toby Cecchini at the Long Island Bar in Brooklyn. But, as I mentioned, its ancestor the Japanese Cocktail goes much further back. Jerry Thomas included it in his famous 1862 Bartender's Guide. As far as why he called it a Japanese cocktail when none of its ingredients are even remotely Japanese: he was tending bar at the Metropolitan Hotel when it housed the first Japanese delegation to the United States in 1860. It seems likely that he created it in their honor. Some accounts take the story a bit further, suggesting that the delegation's translator, Tateishi "Tommy" Onojirou Noriyuki, spent a good amount of time quaffing drinks with Thomas, and might have individually inspired the cocktail.

Improved Japanese Cocktail

2 oz. Cognac
1 oz. orgeat
1 oz. lemon juice
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail or coupe glass.

Recipe from The Barman Cometh.

Cooper Union

I'm officially a fan of cocktails that include a bit of smoky, peaty Scotch. I've enjoyed trying different recipes that use it, from the popular Penicillin to the more obscure Avery's Arrack-Ari. I even took a stab at using some in my own recipe with the Blood and Smoke.

It was the Scotch rinse - along with the inclusion of St. Germain, which I have not been using nearly enough lately - that sold me on the Cooper Union. And it's just as good as I imagined. I really like the play of the smoky Scotch with the sweet and floral St. Germain. The orange bitters and twist of lemon add a perfect hint of citrus. This was one that we drank several nights in a row after discovering it. It's the perfect cocktail to sip on in the evening after a long day.

I probably know less about Irish whiskey than any other sort (except maybe Japanese), and I didn't have a bottle in my bar until recently. I went ahead and bought GrandTen Distilling's South Boston Irish Whiskey, which is bottled quite close to where I live. It's quite affordable and very tasty. I thought it worked well in the Cooper Union. I'd love recommendations for other go-to Irish whiskeys for cocktails.

Cooper Union

2 oz. Irish whiskey
1/2 oz. St. Germain
1 dash orange bitters
Laphroig rinse (I used Lagavulin)

Pour a small amount of the Scotch into a rocks glass and turn the glass to coat the edges. Combine whiskey, St. Germain, and bitters in a mixing glass. Stir with ice until chilled. Strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe from Wine Enthusiast.

French Pearl

A few weeks ago, I went to New York city for the first time since I really got into cocktails. I showed up with a long list of cocktail bars I wanted to visit, far more than I could ever make it to in one weekend. There are just so many great ones! And a lot of them are clustered together in the East Village: PDT, Death & Co, Amor y Amargo, and Mayahuel are all within blocks of each other. It's almost ridiculous.

One place I was very excited to visit was Pegu Club. It had a very different feel from the speakeasy-style bars: bigger and more elegant. The drinks all had a classic feel, and each one was crafted to perfection. There were very few unusual ingredients on the list. It was a reminder that simplicity can still be incredibly impressive.

I ordered the French Pearl: gin, Pernod, lime, simple syrup, mint. It's a creation of Pegu Club's owner, Audrey Saunders. She seriously has a way with cocktails. The Old Cuban is one of her recipes. She also invented the Earl Grey Martini. Her recipes have the feel of classics that have been around for ages. I think I am officially a die-hard fan.

The French Pearl is just perfect. It's like these ingredients were just begging to end up together in the same glass. Sweet and citrusy with that wonderful hint of anise. Everyone should try this cocktail.

French Pearl

2 oz. gin
1/4 oz. Pernod (I used Herbsaint)
3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
5-6 mint leaves

Muddle lime juice, simple syrup, and mint leaves in the bottom of a shaker. Add gin and Pernod. Fill shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass or coupe. Garnish with mint and/or lime if desired.

Recipe adapted from the James Beard Foundation.

Trois Pêches

A few days ago I received an email from Ménage à Trois Vodka inviting me to participate in their Galentine's Day Blogger Challenge.

Galentine's Day is a new one for me. Apparently, this holiday occurs on February 13th, and it's a day for women to celebrate female friendships. As far as I can tell, this involves lots of manicures, spa days, brunches, romantic comedies, and - of course - cocktails.

Now, the cynical side of me could really have a field day with this. The whole Galentine's Day thing is definitely not my usual style. But the thing is, I love any excuse to celebrate and have a good time with friends. I've never been in the "Valentine's Day is too commercial" camp. A holiday that's all about telling the people you care about that you love them? I can get behind that. And I can get behind Galentine's Day too. Especially when there's vodka involved.

Ménage à Trois Vodka, to be exact. This is a new venture for the long-time winemakers, and it comes in three flavors: original, berry, and citrus. I got to try all three, which arrived in a big box full of Galentine's Day goodies. The original is really an excellent go-to vodka; I subbed it for the gin I usually put in my martini, and was quite impressed by its smooth flavor. But for a Galentine's Day cocktail, I wanted to play with the flavors in the citrus vodka.

What I like about the Ménage à Trois Citrus is that it's not too sweet. It may smell a bit like orange candy, but the taste is well-balanced: subtly sweet and tart with a hint of bitterness and spice and a lot of citrus flavor. I decided that peaches would be the perfect thing to pair it with, and I think it works perfectly. I chose St. Germain and Lillet Blanc to add some delicate floral notes that I think do a nice job of enhancing the taste of the vodka. Bright and flavorful, this peach martini is sure to be a hit at your Galentine's Day celebration, or any night with your girlfriends. Or any friends, for that matter.

Thanks to Ménage à Trois for the opportunity to taste their new vodkas! If you want to see more Galentine's Day cocktail recipes, search #matvgalentinesday on Twitter or Instagram, or check Ménage à Trois Vodka's Facebook page.

Trois Pêches

1 1/2 oz. Ménage à Trois Citrus Vodka
1/2 oz. St. Germain
1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc
1/2 peach

Combine all ingredients in the bottom of a shaker and muddle the peach to release its juices. Add ice and shake until well chilled. Fine-strain into a coupe glass. The mixture will be thick, with lots of peach pulp, but it's worth it - be sure to strain out all that delicious vodka! Garnish with a peach slice and a spring of thyme.

For a sparkling twist on this recipe, try adding a splash or two of champagne!

Hot Toddy

In the search for a good winter cocktail, it's just about impossible to beat a Hot Toddy. Warm and strong and citrusy, it's the cure for chill and gloomy days, the ideal libation after a foray out into the snow and slush. It will warm you up through-and-through.

The Hot Toddy is a well-known cocktail for which I'm not sure there's really a definitive recipe. There are a ton of variations on the general theme of booze + citrus + sugar, and even the ones that call themselves "classic" vary greatly in their ingredients. Notably, a lot of them contained tea, which I didn't think was traditionally a part of the Hot Toddy. I ended up cobbling together my own recipe based on what I always thought a real Hot Toddy ought to be. I kept it simple, with nothing but bourbon, lemon, honey, hot water, and a cinnamon stick. I could definitely see playing with the base spirit and adding tea or other flavors, but for now this is utter perfection.

If this recipe isn't quite enough to stave off the winter cold, check out the round-up post for Mixology Monday CV over at Doc Elliot's Mixology!

History: The Hot Toddy as we drink it today probably comes from Scotland, originating around the 18th century. That makes plenty of sense, given the popularity of Scottish whiskey and the fact that the weather there begs for a nice warm beverage. The name may come from Tod's Well in Edinburgh. There's a poem by Allan Ramsey called "The Morning Interview" written in 1721 that refers to its water being used to make tea. In the passage, he describes how everything for a tea party has come from afar: the table from Japan, the tea set from China, the sugar from Amazonia. Only the water comes from Scotland:

Here Scotia does no costly Tribute bring,
Only some Kettles full of Todian Spring.

Tod's Well was a major source of water for Edinburgh. So it follows that if people began drinking warm water from the "Todian Spring" mixed with Scotch, they might begin to refer to them as "hot toddies."

However, like any good cocktail, the Hot Toddy's origin isn't so clear. It may actually originate much further back - and farther away - than the Todian Well. There are records from as far back as 1638 that refer to an Indian coconut tree as the "Toddy Tree." Its sap was used to make liquor called arrack (I've written about it before) that became very popular in punches.

Interestingly, there's a pretty big gap between either of these possible sources for the word "toddy" and any record of someone actually drinking a cocktail called a "toddy." The earliest use appears in the 1784 book A Tour of the United States by J.F.D. Smyth. He writes that between noon and one o'clock, the typical Southern "gentleman of fortune" would drink "a draught of bombo, or toddy, a liquor composed of water, sugar, rum, and nutmeg, which is made weak, and kept cool." This does help explain why the modifier "hot" needed to be added later on.

One of the earliest mentions of a "hot toddy" actually comes from a scientist, Yale chemist Benjamin Silliman, in 1808. On a visit to Britain, he wrote, "Both dinners and suppers, when they are meant to be hospitable, are here concluded by the drinking of a hot toddy." He describes how guests mix their own hot water, whiskey, and sugar in pint-sized glasses. "The ladies are not supplied with foot-glasses," he writes, "but the gentlemen occasionally lade out some of their own hot toddy into the wine glasses of the ladies, who thus partake of this beverage, although with much moderation." Hmph.

In his 1862 classic How to Mix Drinks, Jerry Thomas equates hot toddies with hot punches. This seems like further evidence that the toddy may have a direct link to arrack, the classic punch ingredient.

Thanks to Wonderland Kitchen for most of this historical info!

Hot Toddy

2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. honey (maple syrup also works nicely)
5 oz. boiling water
1 cinnamon stick

Add bourbon, lemon juice, and honey to the bottom of a warmed mug. Top with boiling water and stir briefly. Add the cinnamon stick. Garnish with a lemon peel if desired. Stay warm.

Beer and a Smoke

I don't own very many cocktail recipe books. There are several that I'd really like to buy, but I've already got so many recipes I want to make from the ones I have. The PDT Cocktail Book alone would take years to get through. It's such a great combination of good, solid recipes for classics and interesting new things.

If you're not familiar with PDT, it's a speakeasy-style cocktail bar in New York's East Village. The name stands for "please don't tell," but unfortunately many people have, and on my recent trip to New York I couldn't even get in. I did at least get to see the entrance, which is famously hidden inside a phone booth, inside a hot dog restaurant. Next time I'm in the city, I'll make reservations.

Had I gotten a seat at PDT and only had the opportunity to have a couple of cocktails, I doubt the Beer and a Smoke would have been one of my choices. But I was more than happy to try and make it at home, mostly out of curiosity. It's a variation on a well-known Mexican cocktail called a Michelada, made from beer, lime juice, hot sauce, and spices. The main difference is that it uses mezcal, the "smoke" in the name. Its flavor is decidedly unusual. It's spicy and tart and savory. The first sip honestly made me cringe a little and wonder what I had been thinking, but it kept growing on me. The lime hits you first, a surprisingly sour beginning to your sip. Then you taste the salted rim and the Cholula. The spice and smoke linger. It reminds me a bit of a Bloody Mary even though they don't have that much in common, probably because it feels a bit like you're drinking a meal.

The Michelada is supposedly a decent hangover cure; I wouldn't be surprised if this worked, too. Maybe if I finally get to PDT, I'll make one the next morning.

History: This cocktail was invented in 2009 by Jim Meehan at PDT in New York.

Beer and a Smoke

1 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. lime juice
1 dash celery bitters
4 dashes Cholula hot sauce
6 oz. Pilsner (they recommend Victory, I used Lagunitas)

Rub the edge of a Collins glass with a wedge of lime and rim the glass with a mixture of salt, black pepper, and celery salt. Stir mezcal, lime juice, bitters, and hot sauce with ice. Strain into the prepared glass. Top with the beer. Garnish with freshly-grated lime and orange zest.

Recipe from The PDT Cocktail Book.

Italian 57

Has there ever been a cocktail as pretty as the Italian 57? I had so much fun taking pictures of it. I couldn't seem to get a bad shot. And it tastes just as bright and beautiful and eclectic as it looks.

It was the photo of the Italian 57 on Imbibe's website that first made me put it on my list, quite some time ago. I'm not sure I would have gone for a cocktail with amaretto as its main ingredient if I hadn't seen the beautiful pink hue and fun garnish. It looks like it has since been removed; I had to hunt it down on Pinterest so that I could properly replicate the look of the blood orange and rosemary.

Everything about the Italian 57 is lovely. It's very aromatic, with the beautiful scent of amaretto and rosemary filling your nose with every sip. First you taste sweet almond and blood orange, and then you're hit by the sharp tartness of the lemon and marmalade. It's a remarkably crafted cocktail with a very unique flavor. The one thing I don't understand is the gin. Is 1/4 oz. really adding much to the finished product? I suppose I'll have to make one without it, or maybe with more of it, to figure out how it fits in.

I did increase the amount of sparkling rosé in the recipe, from 1/4 oz. to 3/4 oz. Without it, the flavor was so incredibly sweet and tart that it was almost overwhelming. I found that a bit more rosé helped to space it all out on your tongue.

History: The Italian 57 was the winner of the 2011 Disaronno Mixing Star Competition. It was developed by Chicago bartender Debbi Peek.

Italian 57

1 oz. amaretto (Disaronno recommended)
1/4 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. blood orange juice
1 barspoon orange marmalade
10 fresh rosemary needles
3/4 oz. sparkling rosé (Martini & Rossi recommended)

In the bottom of a shaker, muddle orange juice, blood orange juice, marmalade, and rosemary. Add gin and amaretto. Fill with ice and shake until chilled. Double-strain into a cocktail or coupe glass and top with the sparkling rosé. Garnish with a blood orange wheel and a sprig of rosemary.

Recipe adapted from Imbibe.