Science Of Drink

The cocktail that I want to explore today I like for a long time. The recipe of this cocktail was at my blog some times ago. Actually the American Beauty Cocktail is in my Special Reserve. This flowery and extraordinary cocktail is one of the best choices for novice – it is not so strong, have interesting sweet taste and it has great look. This drink is great thing to look at as well as to sip.

The story of American Beauty Cocktail is forgotten. It is known that name of this drink connected with popular sort of the garden rose. American Beauty roses was best-selling roses from 1888 to 1920. The creator of this drink is unknown. Supposedly this cocktail was first mentioned in first edition of The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock.

My first American Beauty Cocktail I mixed with recipe was found at the CocktailDB. Now I taste this cocktail with authentic cognac and real Porto.

American Beauty

15 ml brandy
15 ml vermouth dry
15 ml fresh orange juice
15 ml grenadine
1 dash creme de menthe white
30 ml Port wine
Shake all ingredients except port with a lot of ice. Strain into cocktail glass and top with port wine.

The cognac in this cocktail is needless. The delicate flavor and taste of the cognac is invisible in this sweet and fruity drink. I prefer to use in this cocktail something powerful and complete brandy like young (about 5 years old) armenian brandy.

The American Beauty Cocktail in old proportions has sweet and fruity taste with little mint pleasure notes in the finish. The cocktail scent of port wine. With every sip you have both layer of the drink – the a luttle bit tart and sweet port and sweet and fruity mix – it is great feeling.

If you do not like so sweet old version you may taste the modern version of this rare cocktail. This recipe I found in the one of my favorite cocktail book – The Essential Cocktail by Dale DeGroff.

American Beauty Cocktail (DeGroff’s version)

20 ml brandy
20 ml vermouth dry
20 ml fresh orange juice
2 dashes grenadine
2 dashes simple syrup
1 dash of creme de menthe green
15 ml ruby port
Shake all ingredients except brandy in a ice-filled shaker. Strain into cocktail glass and float the port on top. Garnish with rose petal (organically grown or well washed).

Actually for old-style two layer look you must use a little bit more of grenadine. I use about teaspoonful of grenadine otherwise port wine do not make a separate layer.

This drink is perfectly balanced. It is not so sweet as old version. This cocktail has sweet taste with great brandy and vermouth palate with a hint of mint in the finish. It is admirable, amazing 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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One of my favorite cocktail. Delicious, light and compose drink. Pure classics. And of course it has unusualy appearance.

American Beauty

15 ml brandy
15 ml dry vermouth
15 ml fresh orange juice
15 ml grenadine
1 dash creme de menthe white
30 ml port wine
Shake all without port, cocktail glass, top with a port.

P.S. This great foto of American beauty was taken by my wife (ukrainian beauty
by the way)… :)