Science Of Drink

It is no secret that I prefer bitter-sweet cocktail. And now, after the great S.I.P. #2, which was devoted to one of the world-famous sour – the Sidecar, I am enthusiastic with bitter cocktail too. But I have not enough realy bitter ingredient in my bar – two bottle of fernet, one amaro and Campari. Two cocktails bitters are no object. Thus I remember that I have Dubonnet – one of the famous quinquina in the world. This bottle was unopened over one year. I open this bottle. It emerged that Dubonnet has no bitter taste. The Dubonnet Rouge has so sweet and spicy taste of muscat fortified wine with microscopic bitter feeling in the finish. But it no stopped me try this stuff in a cocktails.

First probe of mixing with Dubonnet is signature Dubonnet Cocktail. The recipe I found in the Cocktails and Mixed Drinks by Anthony Hogg.

Dubonnet Cocktail

35 ml Dubonnet
35 ml gin
Stir well with a lot of ice. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Dubonnet Cocktail is too similar to Old Great Martini Cocktail with Dubonnet instead sweet vermouth. Not dry but very pleasant and palatable gin drink. It has main palate of gin botanicals with great little bitter finish with sweet muscat notes. I tested few my gins in this cocktail – Befeater, Bombay Sapphire and Broker’s. IMHO the best result give us Befeater – it has so clear and crisp taste. Also you may zest your Dubonnet Cocktail with lemon for best results or add dash of bitters as Robert Schnakenberg advice in his great book Old Man Drinks (Quirk Books, 2010).

Actually my soul and taste bud wait some different pleasure. And I prepare the Dubonnet Royal Cocktail that was found in Cocktails and Mixed Drinks by Anthony Hogg in next line.

Dubonnet Royal

40 ml Dubonnet
20 gin
2 dash Angostura bitters
2 dash curacao
1 dash pastis
Mix well with ice all ingredients except pastis. Strain into cocktail glass and add one dash pastis on the top. Garnish with maraschino cherry.

Wow! It is great cocktail. It has magnificent taste – rich and complex. This cocktail seems as tastes firework. It is superb cocktail.

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Congratulation! Today we have our second S.I.P. – on-line event for russophone bloggers-inbibirs. The point of this event is in investigation and exploring great classic cocktail. Our S.I.P. #2 devote to Sidecar. The Sidecar Cocktail is great stuff for researching. This great classic cocktail has interesting story, fancy composition and taste, which can to improve the taste of its consumer. The Sidecar is cocktail which has true taste.

For S.I.P.#2 I explore the way of Sidecar from its possible predecessor – the Brandy Crusta Cocktail to modern creature Mandarine Sidecar.

The history of the Sidecar creation is so unclear. According to legend the Sidecar was created during or after World War (circa 1920) in one Paris little bistro for American or French Army capitan who was driven to and from the bar in a motorcycle sidecar, hebce its name. Actually a sidecar was very popular transport among the military at that time. There are two possible places where cocktail was born. First – the legendary Paris American bar Harry and another – The Ritz Hemingway Bar. The Sidecar was first mentioned in print in 1922 into two cocktails books – Cocktails: How to Mix Them by Robert Vermiere and ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry MacElhone.

David Embury in his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948) specify that original Sidecar contained some six or seven ingredients in place of common three. It seems that oroginal Sidecar was so close to old New Orlean cocktail – Brandy Custa. For example the recipe of Brandy Crusta Cocktail from Harry Jonson:

3 OR 4 DASHES OF ORCHARD SYRUP;
1 OR 2 DASHES OF BITTERS (BOKER’S GENUINE ONLY);
4 OR 5 DROP OF LEMON JUICE;
2 DASHES OF MARASCHINO;
3/4 OF THE GLASS FILLED WITH FINE GLASS;
1 WINE-GLASS OF BRANDY (MARTELL).

Stir up well with a spoon, strain it into the glass, dress with a little fruit, and serve.

In Jerry Thomas’es version this cocktail is much closest to modern Sidecar:

3 OR 4 DASHES OF GUM SYRUP.
2 DO. BITTERS (BOGART’S).
1 WINE-GLASS OF BRANDY.
1 OR 2 DASHES OF CURACOA.
A LITTLE OF LEMON JUICE.
A SMALL LUMP OF ICE.

First, mix the ingredients in a small tumbler, then take a fancy red wine-glass, rub a sliced lemon around the rim of the same, and dip it in pulverized white sugar, so that the sugar will adhere to the edge of the glass. Pare half a lemon the same as you would an apple (all in one piece) so that the paring will fit in the wine-glass, as shown in the cut, and strain the crusta from the tumbler into it. Then smile.

Thus first cocktail of the Sidecar exploring is Brandy Crusta. I use recipe from The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock:

Brandy Crusta

3 dashes marascino
1 dash Angostura bitters
4 dashes lemon juice
15 ml curacao
45 ml brandy
Stir well and strain into prepared glass with sugar rim. Garnish with a long lemon peel.

The Brandy Crusta Cocktail has so strong and spicy flavor and taste. It is closest to Old-Fashioned with brandy than traditional sour – the Sidecar.

The traditional Sidecar is very simple drink – base spirit (cognac), sweetener – Cointreau and sour agent – lemon juice. It is canonical sour.

Actually for Sidecar you should use real french cognac. The VS cognac is apropriate but VSOP is best choice. I compared all of my cognacs – Hennessy VS and VSOP, Martell VSOP ans Remy Martin VSOP in my Sidecars. First I tested two of common proportions – equal french style and 3:2:2 in Englesh style.

Sidecar (French style)

30 ml cognac
30 ml Cointreau
30 ml fresh lemon juice
Shake with a lot of ice. Strain into cocktail glass with sugar rim.

French style Sidecar is too sour and so tart. It is no my chice. The 3:2:2 ratio is excellent – so good balanced drink. In this ratio all VSOP give good results. But Sidecar with Martell VSOP isa little bit more flavorfull.

And in final I propose to taste some modern Sidecar. The recipe of Mandarine Sidecar I found at the diffordsguide. The adopted recipe is:

Mandarine Sidecar

30 ml Courvoisier V.S.O.P cognac
20 ml Mandarine Napoleon liqueur
20 ml fresh lemon juice
1 dash Monin Pure Cane sugar syrup (65°brix, 2:1 sugar/water)
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into chilled glass with sugar rim (optional). Garnish with a lemon zest.

I use Remy Martin VSOP Cognac and my favorite demerara 2:1 syrup instead Courvoisier and Monin.

It is very balanced cocktail with main palate of friut liqueur with a cognacs hint. It is so interesting sour. Admirable drink.

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The Coffee Cocktail is so old fancy drink. It is so similar to flip. The oldest entry about Coffee Cocktail are in the Bartender’s Guide or How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks (1887) by Jerry Thomas and Bartender’s Manual or How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style (1882, rev. 1934) by Harry Jonson. This cocktail is truly genteleman’s desert cocktail and amazing nightcup.

For Coffee Cocktail I use Don Pablo Porto Ruby and Hennessy VS as brandy.

Coffee Cocktail (Savoy Cocktail Book)

the yolk of one egg
2 tsp sugar syrup
50 ml port wine
25 ml brandy
1 dash curacao
Shake well, strain into a small wineglass and grate a little nutmeg on top.

Coffee Cocktail is amazing drink. It has so sweet very pleasant taste with hint of … coffee! It is great cocktail! This cocktail is a favorite cocktail of many of my guests now.

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In this post I describe real cock tail – amazing multicolor drink – Pousse Cafe. The Pousse Cafe cocktail is so old creation. This drink was invented in the Europe (France), probably. But we can found suggestions that this cocktail was invented in New Orlean, USA. The first print recipe with illustration I was found in the great How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas in 1862. Layered cocktail with name Pousse l’Amour consist of brandy, two liqueurs and egg yolk. The real fancy drink! The Gary Regan in yours The Joy of Mixology specify that Pousse Cafe are drinks made by floating one ingredient on top of another, or several others, to create a multilayered effect.

Actually this drink has awesome look. It is real rainbow in your glass. But the taste of this cocktail may be frustrating. This drink as a rule consist of sweet liqueur without any diluent. I hope it may be great digestive in some case. Now the Pousse Cafe cocktail has many modern reincarnation in so popular layered shooters.

The greatest modern Pousse Cafe is B-52 cocktail. This cocktail was created at Alice’s Restaurant in Malibu, USA, in 1972 or at the Keg Steakhouse in Calgary, Canada in 1977. This child of Cold War consist of Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream and Grand Marnier (the mnemonic: The B52 bomber Kills Bad Guys). Now I propose to explore some another popular modern shooters, several from them are variations of B-52.

K.G.B.

10 ml Kahlua
10 ml Galliano
10 ml Hennessy VS Cognac
Layer in the order given in a pousse-cafe glass (or in the liqueur glass, or shooter, or sherry glass).

For preparation this beautiful cocktail you should have steady hand, bar spoon and acceptable 1 or 2 ounce Pousse Cafe glass or something similar like sherry glass, shooter or liqueur glass. Pour first ingredient into glass then you insert the spoon into glass as far as it will go, with the back side of the bowl facing up. Pour next layer slowly and carafully. Repeat if required.

Bumble Bee

10 ml Kahlua
10 ml sambuca
10 ml Irish cream liqueur
Layer in the order given in an appropriate glass.

Slippery Nipple

5 ml grenadine
15 ml sambuca
10 ml Irish Cream liqueur
Layer in the order given in an appropriate glass.

Monkey Lunch aka Banana Sandwich

10 ml Kahlua
10 ml creme de banane
10 ml Irish Cream liqueur
Layer in the order given in an appropriate glass.

French Kiss

10 ml amaretto liqueur
10 ml Frangelico
10 ml Irish Cream Liqueur
Layer in the order given in an appropriate glass.

All of this cocktails are working. My choice is K.G.B. and French Kiss. And the Slippery Nipple has best look in this company.

And in the conclusion we explore two real infante terrible of the cocktail world, two ugly concoctions in the cyberpunk style – the Brain Haemorrhage and Hiroshima shooters.

Brain Haemorrhage

10 ml grenadine
30 ml peach schnapps
20 ml Irish Cream liqueur
Layer in the order given in tall shooter glass. Then drop few grenadine on top.

The taste of this potion is very, may be extremely sweet and it has absolutely ugly appearance.

Hiroshima Shooter

20 ml sambuca
20 ml Irish Cream liqueur
20 ml absinthe (XENTA Absenta)
Layer in the order given in tall shooter glass. Then drop few grenadine on top. Flame the absinthe and serve with dramatic laughter.

It is one of the most disgusting libations that I ever taste. It is awful drink.

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Now we explore two so similar cocktails of Prohibition Era. The Flamingo Cocktail and the Mary Pickford Cocktail. Both of this cocktails are so rare and hard to find in popular cocktails book. Both has similar composition with rum and pineapple with hint of fresh lime (Flamingo) or maraschino liqueur (Mary Pickford). Both has beatiful foam as a garnish.

Dale DeGroff suppose that cocktail Flamingo was created by famous Constante Ribalagua – owner and barman of La Floridita, Havana. The gold age of this and another cuban bar was at Prohibition. I use recipe of Flamingo Cocktail from The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff.

Flamingo

35 ml light rum
35 ml pineapple juice
1 tsp. grenadine
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
Shake. Pour into cocktail glass.

The Flamingo Cocktail has smooth and light fruit cocktail with great rum palate. My favorite white rum – Havana Club Anejo Blanco – work extremely well in this cocktail.

The Mary Pickford Cocktail has so similar composition with maraschino liqueur instead lime juice. Dale DeGroff suppose that Mary Pickford Cocktail was invented also Constante Ribalagua but another sources report that Mary Pickford Cocktail was invented by another cuban barman – Eddie Woelke (the creator of famous El Presedente Cocktail). This cocktail created for first Hollywood superstar – Mary Pickford.

First mention of the Mary Pickford Cocktail is in Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddoc (1930) but I use version from Cocktails and Mixed Drinks by Anthony Hogg.

Mary Pickford

35 ml white rum
35 ml pineapple juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tsp grenadine
Shake and strain in the cocktail glass.

Wow! The Mary Pickford Cocktail is awesome drink. It is one of the best cocktail that I drink!

Dale DeGroff also specify another recipe of Mary Pickford Cocktail – “the Flamingo Cocktail plus orange curacao”. It is worth to try.

Mary Pickford #2

35 ml white rum
35 ml pineapple juice
1 tsp orange curacao
1 tsp grenadine
1 tsp fresh lime juice
Shake and strain in the cocktail glass.

This version of Mary Pickford Cocktail has well-balanced smooth taste with pleasant fruit and citrus taste with great rum palate. Great drink for hot summer evening. By the way, best orange liqueur for this cocktail in my opinion is Cointreau.