Scientist McGee’s Cocktail Glass Emporium
Posted: February 9, 2015 Filed under: cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, mixed drinks, mixology, on the rocks, Punch, spirits, St. Louis | Tags: cocktail glasses, coupes, flutes, highballs, Martini, old-fashioned glasses, punchbowls, rocks Leave a commentThank you for reading my ramblings about cocktails here on WordPress.
As a way to thank you, please enjoy a 10% discount off all my cocktail glassware in my Cocktail Glass Emporium at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ScientistMcGee?ref=pr_shop_more with coupon code WORDPRESSCOCKTAILS
St. Louis Sorghum Whiskey
Posted: January 25, 2015 Filed under: alcohol, Sorghum, spirits, Uncategorized, whiskey | Tags: sorghum, St. Louis, Still 630, whiskey Leave a commentEarlier this month, local distiller Still 630 released his new whiskey made of sorghum. Still 630 is one man, David Weglarz, and what a guy he is. Single-handedly running his distillery and making sure his whiskeys (ryes “Rally Point” and “Maple Sunset”, as well as white dog “Big Jake”) and rum (“Soulard Island Rum”) are available at nearly every respectable drinking establishment and spirits shop in St. Louis, Mr. Weglarz is one of the hardest working people I know.
Distilling his first-class spirits in a modestly small building (a former Hardee’s) in the heart of our city on 4th Street, just a stone’s throw from Busch Stadium, Still 630 is quintessentially St. Louis. I believe that Mr. Weglarz is as honored to have his spirits embraced and enjoyed by so many St. Louisans, just as much as so many St. Louisans are proud to consider his spirits our own.
So I, being such a big fan of this local distillery, didn’t have to think twice about heading down to the distillery the morning after first hearing of his latest product, “S.S. Sorghum” whiskey. When I think of sorghum, I think of a type of molasses because of some syrups I’ve purchased in old-fashioned Americana-type shops, but although I find science fascinating, I’m terrible at knowing anything about it and/or anything earth or plant-related. (I feel proud that I can identify a Bradford Pear or an Oklahoma Redbud tree, and that’s about the extent of my botany knowledge.) So I really didn’t even know what sorghum really is, but Wikipedia tells me it’s a type of grass maybe? Who knows?
But I know that Dave made a whiskey out of it, so I headed downtown first thing in the afternoon. In fact, my little man and I found ourselves in the position to purchase the very first bottle of this new whiskey (see picture)! Obviously that’s a photo of a proud dad and son.
This is good drink, and a nice something that’s unique to add to one’s home bar. Below is the official tasting notes on the back of the bottle, and in my humble opinion it reminds me of a slightly rum-ish bourbon. Very interesting flavor and very good.
To enjoy the full flavor of the sorghum whiskey, I’ve been enjoying it so far simply in an Old-fashioned cocktail…
2.25oz Still 630 “S.S. Sorghum” whiskey
1/4oz simple syrup
1/2oz water
2d Angostura bitters
Served over ice, with a lemon twist
“S.S. Sorghum” can be purchased at the distillery on 4th Street. Learn more about Still 630 here.
Throwback cocktails… “De La Louisiane” and “Harvest Moon” (both from PDT)
Posted: January 25, 2015 Filed under: alcohol, cocktails, drinks, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: De La Louisiane, Harvest Moon, PDT Leave a commentDe La Louisiane
2oz rye whiskey
3/4oz Italian vermouth
3/4oz Benedictine
3d absinthe
3d Bitter Truth creole bitters
Stir with ice and serve up
https://scientistmcgee.wordpress.com/tag/de-la-louisiane/
Harvest Moon
1.5oz rye whiskey
1oz Lillet Blanc
1/2oz apple brandy
1/4oz green Chartreuse
3d @angosturausa bitters
Stir with ice, then serve up
garnish with an orange twist
https://scientistmcgee.wordpress.com/tag/harvest-moon/
Cocktail hour across Missouri
Posted: January 25, 2015 Filed under: alcohol, cocktails, Drink recipe, drinks, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, St. Louis, Uncategorized | Tags: baseball, Cardinals, cocktail, Kansas City, Missouri, Royals, St. Louis Leave a commentCocktail hour across Missouri, with a “Show Me Cocktail”, a Scientist McGee original drink created as an homage to the 2014 Major League Baseball postseason featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. A good time for baseball in Missouri, the “Show Me State”.
3/4oz rye whiskey
3/4oz apple brandy
3/4oz Swedish Punsch
1/4oz pear liqueur
2d Boker’s @adamsbitters
Stir with ice and serve up.
This drink’s split base spirit was directly influenced by the drinks of Death & Co. in New York City, as I was immersed at that time in their wonderful new book.
Furthermore, to truly pay homage to Missouri, I recommend mixing this drink with some rye whiskey that is distilled and bottled within the borders of our state, or better yet still, within the confines of one of these two fine cities – St. Louis or Kansas City.
Another year, another cocktail menu… 5th Edition of the “Scientist McGee Cocktail Menu”!
Posted: January 2, 2015 Filed under: Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: bitters, classic cocktails, cocktail recipes, cocktails, Death & Co, drink recipes, Embury, PDT, Savoy, Wondrich Leave a commentHappy new year, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve, and enjoyed a nice tipple to say ‘goodbye’ to 2014. Looking forward to this new year of 2015, what better way to say ‘hello’ than an updated and revised edition of the “Scientist McGee Cocktail Menu”.
The “Scientist McGee Cocktail Menu” is essentially a documented collection of all the new drinks I’ve mixed up and enjoyed since the last edition. This newest version adds about 25 libations or so to the mix, and they’re all featured at the end of the book. In addition to the newly added drinks, this edition also sees an updated cover, table of contents, bibliography, index, and even some updated photos of old drinks sprinkled in here and there.
So pull up a chair, chill some cocktail glasses, and measure some pours, because this book will be your best friend in the upcoming cold and wretched winter months.
Just click on the two pictures below to download the book in 2 parts.
Cheers to all of you, and may you have the best year of your life! To 2015! Cheers!
Where to begin…
Posted: June 12, 2013 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: amaro, Bar Keep, Billiken, blueberries, Boker's Bitters, gin, grapefruit juice, honey syrup, lavender bitters, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc, Little Man, Matt Seiter, Meletti, orange bitters, Plymouth Gin, rye whiskey, Sanctuaria, simple syrup, St. Germain, Still 630, Summer Relief, The Billiken Leave a comment
Where to begin this SMcG post? It’s my first post since December of last year, and a lot’s happened and changed since then. Most significantly, I’m a dad now! My wife and I had our first baby on May 23rd, and his name’s Elliott. If you do the math, he’s not even 3 weeks old yet, and I’ve been off on leave of absence from work this whole time (I go back to work this Friday).
So although I’ve got numerous new cocktails I’ve tried since December 2012 to write about, I guess it’s only fitting that I start with an original one I created specifically to mark the occasion of our little man Elliott’s birth… It’s called “The Little Man”. In addition to this drink (the most important one to me), I’ve got 19 other new drinks I’ve mixed up for the first time, and one delicious punch on top of that, since my last entry. There’s no way though that I’d want to even write about that many all in one post, nor could I even do so if I wanted to, what with the 3-week old baby in the house and all. So I’m going to keep this post really short and sweet, in hopes that by doing so, I’ll be more inclined to write more frequently than I’ve been doing recently.
So for sake of brevity, I’ll keep this post to two drinks – two cocktails that I invented in fact… “The Little Man” and “The Billiken”. Although the Little Man is the drink closest to my heart, the Billiken is the original creation that I’m most proud of simply because it’s a damn good drink (if I do say so myself). The Billiken was created back in March during the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament in tribute to my hometown school and alma mater college basketball team of Saint Louis University.
“The Little Man”
1.5 oz Still 630 rye whiskey
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Meletti amaro
2-3 dashes of simple syrup
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash lavender bitters
Shake well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with an orange twist
Many of these ingredients play a specific role in the characteristics of a drink created in homage to my baby boy Elliott…
The Still 630 rye whiskey because his dad loves rye whiskey and this particular rye because it’s a great St. Louis whiskey. I love my hometown of St. Louis, and I’m excited to share my love for this town with little Elliott. The lemon and amaro because when Elliott’s throwing a fuss, he can be a bit sour and bitter. But then you add the simple syrup and lavender bitters because in the end, he’s just a sweet little baby who happens to smell like flowers (at least to his parents). (The orange bitters and garnish don’t have any special meaning.)
But above all cheesy symbolism, the drink’s a fun one to drink. It’s a refreshing drink that I think would appeal to many different folks… it’s a sour while still being a mellow, smooth drink. I think that the variety of ingredients, from the amaro to the simple syrup to the lavender bitters to the lemon create a few different layers of subtleties, and offer a little bit of something for everyone’s tastes. A good drink for a great time in my life. Cheers to Elliott!
“The Billiken”
1 1/2 oz Plymouth gin
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
1/4 oz St. Germain
1 dash of Boker’s bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon peel hugging 3 blueberries
Of all the spirits to choose from, I figured gin spoke to me most when it came to basketball. (Whiskey just doesn’t seem like a basketball liquor.) The particular ingredients in this drink are fitting because, like SLU, none of them are particularly cheap (inexpensive). Also, these specific ingredients (ie. Lillet, St. Germain) tend towards the fancier and “less rugged” persuasion, I guess you might say… also similar to SLU and its student body. Lastly, the blueberries fit the school colors and may serve as a loose reference to basketballs. But most importantly, it’s a well built and tasty drink. I think of it as sort of an “elegant Corpse Reviver”… light, fancily delightful and delicious… like a ballet or a good game of college basketball.
“Summer Relief”
Why not throw one more drink in to this post for good measure, now that I’m on a roll (and the kid’s being good and napping)! (kind of like a bonus hidden track on a ’90’s cd, eh?)
I don’t want this post to be only drinks I made up, so here’s a good one as we hit our summer stride… the “Summer Relief” from Matt Seiter’s book “Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”. This drink is downright delicious! It’s one of the heartiest gin drinks I’ve ever had. The grapefruit, honey syrup and surprisingly the St. Germain all add up to provide a substantial body for the drink. It’s a substantial and hearty drink, but also kind of a “girly” drink. But I don’t use the adjective “girly” to mean anything but awesome. I mean it in the highest form of praise that I can… like a fashion model with great style and amazing perfume. (I know that that is probably the absolute weirdest description of a drink that you’ll find in this entire Scientist McGee blog, but it’s in my notes and I trust my notes and my seemingly tipsy self from February, and it does ring a bell and I remember feeling strongly about this, so there you go! ha! ha!)
1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz honey syrup (1:1 water:honey)
1/4 oz St. Germain
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with grapefruit
(“Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”)
Happy Holidays from Scientist McGee! (2012 SMcG Cocktail Book)
Posted: December 23, 2012 Filed under: bitters, Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: 2012, absinthe, Angostura bitters, brandy, Campari, Charteuse, Cherry Heering, Cocktail Book, creme de violette, Fernet Branca, gin, grenadine, Hanky Panky, Have a Heart Cocktail, Hoop La! Cocktail, italian vermouth, Joel Clark, Kronan, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc, lime juice, Matt Seiter, orgeat, Plymouth Gin, Rittenhouse, rye whiskey, Sanctuaria, Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars, Scientist McGee, St. Louis, swedish punsch, The Hesitation, Trinidad Sour, triple sec, Wellington Leave a commentHappy holidays, everyone! Tis the season to raise a glass and toast our friends and loved ones!
My gift to you, to help with your toasts, is a new & improved 2012 edition of the “Scientist McGee Annual Cocktail Book”. Last January, I posted the very first edition of the collected recipes from the Scientist McGee blog. That edition collected nearly every recipe I had posted over the lifespan of the SMcG blog, with just a couple awful drinks removed to spare your taste buds. This new & improved 2012 edition includes those same recipes with another year’s worth on top of it. Plus a revised table of contents with a special “key” noting particular ingredients with “big personalities”, such as Chartreuse, Campari, absinthe and creme de violette. Basically “supporting actors” that can “steal the scene”, and for which some folks may not be particularly huge fans of (although others may “stand in line to get a ticket just to see this over-the-top supporting actor”). I figured these ingredients warrant a heads-up or a come hither note for my readers and imbibers. Once again, the “book” is posted in two parts that can be downloaded and printed, and then put together to create the finished product.
Download the book here:
Scientist McGee’s Cocktail Menu – 2012 Edition COVER &TABLE OF CONTENTS & THE BASICS
Scientist McGee’s Cocktail Menu – 2012 Edition THE DRINKS AND BOOKSHELF
The “Scientist McGee’s Annual Cocktail Book: 2012 Edition” also features some “last minute cocktails”, just in time for pressing. These 6 new drinks are featured below and showcase some new ingredients for my home bar – swedish punsch, orgeat, Plymouth Gin and 
Fernet Branca. The latest 2 cocktails, the Hanky Panky and the Wellington, came from a brand new cocktail book, hot off the presses a couple of weeks ago, called “Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”. This book was written by Matt Seiter, a high school buddy of mine and all-around good guy, who happens to be the bar manager of Sanctuaria. Sanctuaria is a tapas and cocktail bar in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis, MO. This book is the tale of that bar and its cocktail club, and features the recipe of every single drink on the cocktail club menu – all 150 of them! It features the story behind each of the 70 original drink creations along with beautiful photos of each drink. I definitely and highly recommend picking up a copy at http://www.sanctuariastl.com . I guarantee that there will be many, many drinks from this book that will grace the future pages of this here blog, and I look forward to drinking each and everyone of them!
So I hope some of you enjoy the drinks – Happy holidays, and thanks to all of you who enjoy reading this blog, enjoy following my day-to-day imbibing on Twitter (@ScientistMcGee), and enjoyed some glassware from the “Scientist McGee’s Cocktail Glass Emporium” (http://www.etsy.com/shop/scientistmcgee) – it’s been quite a busy and fun year!
“The Hesitation”
This is a very good drink. This was the first drink I tried my new bottle of swedish punsch out with. I wanted to really taste the swedish punsch when I tried it for the first time, so I chose this very simple drink that’s equal parts rye and punsch. This recipe makes for a rich, fragrant, slightly sweetened rye whiskey drink. Very good.
Equal parts…
Rye whiskey
Swedish punsch
Stir well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
“Have a Heart Cocktail”
This drink wasn’t anything super unique or magnificent, but very good for what it is… which is a very good sour. It has a little bit of something special with the complexity of the Swedish punsch.
1.5 oz. gin
3/4 oz. Swedish punsch
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. grenadine
Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lime
(“Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails”)
“Hoop La!” Cocktail
This is a good, easy-goin’ sour. It’s nothing that special either, but it’s good nonetheless. I like the gentler side of the Lillet and triple sec, against the strength of the brandy and lemon.
Equal parts…
brandy
Lillet Blanc
triple sec
lemon juice
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“Savoy Cocktail Book”)
“Trinidad Sour”
Now here’s a VERY SPECIAL sour! What a unique and delicious drink! My friend Jack recommended this drink to me when I put a plea out for suggestions for a pre-Thanksgiving stay-at-home cocktail. His recommendation prompted me to go to the store the next day or so and pick up my first bottle of orgeat (an almond cordial syrup). This drink is amazing. This drink is thick and creamy, frothy in fact! 
This is a tough drink to describe for me. I had never had Angostura bitters in this large of quantity before. Plus it was my first taste of orgeat too. So two “firsts”, I guess. This drink is like a typical cocktail turned on its head… Instead of the bitters and the syrup adding the finishing touches, the rye whiskey adds the finishing touch on a drink featuring a full ounce of Angostura bitters. Don’t worry folks, it’s not actually that bitter of a drink either… It actually reminds me a lot of a “Blood & Sand”, oddly enough. You all owe it to yourself to try this drink. Thanks Jack, for the gift of the “Trinidad Sour”.
1 oz. Angostura bitters
1 oz. orgeat
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. rye whiskey
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“Hanky Panky”
This was the first drink I made at home from Matt Seiter’s “Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”, and it was very interesting and really good. The gin and sweet vermouth alone would be too sweet, shallow and light, but the Fernet Branca grabs them both and pulls ’em back down, keeping them grounded. The Fernet comes in at the end and is a bitter bite that pulls the gin and vermouth back to reality, and rounds the drink out.
1.5 oz. Plymouth gin
1.5 oz. Italian vermouth
1/4 oz. Fernet Branca
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
garnish with lemon
(“Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”)
“Wellington”
This drink is really good… a really interesting sour with the mellow Swedish punsch ending that lingers. I love the very small amount of Heering. Actually, I think this drink really has the perfect balance of all the ingredients in the right proportions. Really damn good!
1.5 oz. gin
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. Swedish punsch
1/4 oz. Cherry Heering
Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
garnish with a lime
(“Sanctuaria: The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars”)
“Mamie” was a “Liberal”, used to throw “Paper Planes” off the “South Slope”. One day, tuckered out, she laid down for a “Siesta” and slept like a “Corpse”. (You’ll have to pardon me… I had no good title for this post.)
Posted: August 26, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: absinthe, amaro, Aperol, bourbon, Campari, Corpse Reviver #2, gin, ginger ale, ginger beer, grapefruit juice, Herbsaint, Jim Meehan, lemon juice, Lewis Osterweis and Sons ginger beer, Lillet Blanc, lime juice, Mamie Taylor, orange bitters, orange curacao, Paper Plane, PDT Cocktail Book, rye whiskey, Schlafly, scotch, Siesta, silver tequila, simple syrup, South Slope, sweet vermouth, Ted Haigh, tequila, The Liberal, triple sec, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails 2 Comments
The conclusion that you might draw from the lame title of this post is that there’s no real overarching them to this post’s drinks. You’d be right! I present to you 6 random drinks that feature random ingredients, with nothing in common with each other, other than the fact that they’re all pretty damn good. A couple of them feature Lillet Blanc, which is a new ingredient for my home bar. Lillet is a delicious French aperitif wine. It’s rather sweet and fruity, consisting of a blend of mostly Bordeaux wines and some citrus liqueurs. One of its most famous roles being that of a key player in a cocktail with one of the best names ever, the “Corpse Reviver #2”. (I actually went out to get my first bottle of Lillet Blanc, specifically so I’d be able to make this drink.) Another new ingredient featured in this post is ginger beer. I love ginger ale, but this is the first time I’ve ever tried true ginger beer. Ginger beer is what ginger ale used to be like, back in the olden days. Ginger beer actually has ginger in it, and quite the spice you’d expect from a soda made with real ginger. A lot of classic cocktails call for ginger beer, so I picked up a bottle of “Lewis Osterweis & Sons” ginger beer, made by The Saint Louis Brewery (aka Schlafly). It’s not something I’d necessarily want to drink every day, but it’s definitely worth keeping a bottle or two in the house for when you do want one.
“Corpse Reviver #2”
What a delicious drink! I love the taste of the lemon with just a slight underlying flavor of absinthe, mmmm! I might actually think this drink is a little heavy on the lemon, and I might like it more with a little less, but nonetheless, it’s delicious! It’s very smooth and easy to drink, but also a bit complex in its flavor mixture, with the Lillet and a little bit of the absinthe (Note: 3 drops means just that, 3 small drops, not 3 dashes). Love it!
1 oz. gin
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. triple sec
3 drops of absinthe
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a cherry
“The Liberal”
I’ve been wanting to try this drink for some time, as I love its name too. It’s a pretty good drink. It’s got a unique taste. The amaro wrestles with the sweet vermouth, pinning the vermouth’s sweetness and adding a bittnerness, while the orange bitters and bourbon stand on the side lines cheering and encouraging the fight. Good drink indeed.
1.5 oz. bourbon
1.5 oz. sweet vermouth
6 dashes amaro
2 (healthy) dashes of orange bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a cherry
The good version of “The Liberal” from “Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails” by Ted Haigh (above)
There’s another recipe for “The Liberal” that’s actually more common on the Internet. I, for one, am not a fan of this version. I highly recommend following the recipe above instead.
More common recipe (echh):
1.5 oz. rye whiskey
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
1/4 oz. amaro
2 dashes or orange bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist
The not-so-good version more commonly found on the Internet (below)
“South Slope”
This drink is delicious! It’s dry, citrusy, bitter and smooth, all in one! It’s a really nice cocktail, a perfect blend of tastes and senses. 
3/4 oz. gin
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz. orange curacao
1/2 oz. lemon juice
Shake well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist
(“PDT Cocktail Book”)
“Mamie Taylor”
This is a good drink, with quite a unique flavor combination with the smokiness of the scotch and the spiciness of the ginger, pulled together by the unifying lime juice. It works very well together though! It’s quite a unique summer-time refresher. Ted Haigh writes in his book that this drink was considered a fancy drink back in its heyday, and I understand why… the scotch soothes the soul while the ginger excites the heart, and the lime keeps it all in perspective.
2 oz. scotch
3/4 oz. lime juice
ginger beer (not just ginger ale)
Pour the scotch and lime juice into an ice-filled highball glass, and fill to the top with ginger beer, and then stir gently.
Garnish with a lime wedge
“Paper Plane”
This is a pretty good drink. It’s a bit too lemony perhaps, but a nice flavor, all in all. All the different flavors (a little bitter meets a little tart) blend very well in to a good single, unified flavor. Definitely not a bad drink (but nothing that special either).
3/4 oz. bourbon
3/4 oz. amaro
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. lemon juice
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“Siesta”
And last but not least… Definitely NOT least! This drink is absolutely AMAZING! This is one of the best drinks around. This drink is so good and delicious! The smooth, sweet tequila, with the tart grapefruit juice and the bitter Campari, smoothed out in relief of the simple syrup… Mmmmmm… a perfect mix of flavors! It’s a complex drink that’s both an “easy goin’ summer-time drink” and a “sophisticated cocktail” at the same time. Write this one down, then drink it down, folks!
2 oz. silver tequila
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a grapefruit twist (I used a lime twist)
(“PDT Cocktail Book”)
A very, very good book
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: absinthe, Angostura bitters, apple brandy, applejack, Benedictine, Chris Gall, De La Louisiane, East Village Athletic Club Cocktail, Famous New Orleans Drinks, Four Seasons, Four Seasons Cocktail Book, George Kappeler, Honeymoon Cocktail, Hugo Ensslin, italian vermouth, Jim Meehan, Laird's, Laird's applejack, lemon juice, Modern American Drinks, orange curacao, PDT Cocktail Book, Peychaud's bitters, Recipes for Mixed Drinks, rye, rye whiskey, Stanley Clisby, Stanley Clisby Arthur, sweet vermouth, tequila, white tequila, Widow's Kiss, Yellow Chartreuse 8 Comments
Hey everybody, I’m excited for this post because it’s sure to feature the first of many drinks from a new book I picked up called “The PDT Cocktail Book”. I really felt like I had hit a lull of inspiration and needed a new, quality book to perk me up. I tried buying a book that I’d really enjoyed flipping through at the bookstore called “The Four Seasons Book of Cocktails”, but it turned out to be just a very attractive book, a fun read and flip through. But when it came down to wanting to make any of the drinks, I wasn’t inspired. It’s nicely organized, and has some great pictures, but nothing too exciting.
Then a couple weeks later, at the bookstore again, I came across just what I needed… a book I had seen online before, but nothing I never really paid much attention to – “The PDT Cocktail Book”. This book is pricey for a cocktail book at $25, but worth every penny! It’s a book put out by Jim Meehan, head bartender at PDT (Please Don’t Tell). The actual bar and locale of PDT is a pretty cool story, but I’ll leave that for you to read if you pick up a copy. Basically, this is a modern version of the Savoy Cocktail book, in that it’s a manual of the day and features many cocktails from PDT, but also many classic cocktails, along with drinks from contemporary drink-slinging peers. Just like the Savoy book, it’s a snapshot of what drinks are being drank at this time in history. Also like the Savoy, it’s got no pictures of the drinks themselves, which may sound annoying but it’s not. Instead it features illustrations inspired by the drinks. That may sound like a negative to many, and I’m the first to admit – I usually need photos to get inspired, but trust me… these drinks are generally basic enough, with typically only 3-5 ingredients, that you don’t need a picture to get the idea. Plus the illustrations are kind of more inspiring than a snapshot of the drink could be. That’s another big reason I love this book… the drinks themselves. Yes, there’s a few unusual ingredients that I’ll probably never have, and therefore never try, but for the most part, the drinks featured, some may be new, some may be old, but they all resemble the stripped down simplicity of all the classics. Instead of having a list of 7-8 ingredients, 2 or 3 of which need to be infused or what not, like some current cocktail books… most of these drinks feature all classic, stand-by ingredients… brandy, rye, maraschino, orange juice, bitters, absinthe, simple syrup, etc. Another great similarity to the Savoy is its simplicity in just organizing the drinks alphabetically. Only the PDT fixes the one major mistake about the Savoy – it features an index by ingredient as well. That’s the one annoying thing about the Savoy, it’s nearly impossible to look up drinks by ingredient. I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s an instant classic, and I’m so glad I bought it! Nearly every page is rabbit-eared because there’s a drink I want to try, and I’ve already started…
This post features 4 of the drinks I’ve tried since buying this book. They come straight from the pages of the PDT. Two of them feature apple brandy, I just realized that three of them feature Benedictine, and my favorite is a combo you can’t go wrong with – tequila and Chartreuse.
“East Village Athletic Club Cocktail”
I’ll start with my favorite of the four, the East Village Athletic Club Cocktail. This is only the 2nd drink I’ve had that has both tequila and Chartreuse, and both drinks are up there in my favorites (the other being the Loop Tonic, made with the green stuff). I need to scour the internet and books for more drinks with these two troublemakers in it. (Anyone have any suggestions?) This drink is a creation of Mr. Meehan’s and he explains it as as a variation on the “Last Word” cocktail (one of my favorite drinks), and it’s amazing! Tequila and Chartreuse go so nicely together – they hit each other head on and create a real zip! It’s also the first drink I’ve tasted since buying my first bottle of yellow Chartreuse where the yellow stuff really holds its own and steps up to the plate. The curacao really adds a nice element too.
1.5 oz. white tequila
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. orange curacao
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”)
“Honeymoon Cocktail”
This was a good sour with a nice orange and apple combo flavor, a really nice balance between the two. I recently bought a bottle of Laird’s applejack, and often recipes will call for applejack specifically, but most call for apple brandy. I know that applejack is not 100% apple brandy, but it was cheap and I like it. Now that I know I like it though, I want to buy a bottle of apple brandy and give it a go. I’m not sure how different the two will be from each other. I’m assuming the 100% apple brandy will be much better, since the applejack is only 35% apple brandy (65% grain neutral spirits). In the meantime, this $13 bottle of applejack was a nice introduction in to the apple brandy world. I like it, and will be returning. This drink’s almost like a daiquiri, but a little more “mature” in its taste… not as “childish” as rum (no offense to rum) but not as “manly” as whiskey.
2 oz. apple brandy
1/2 oz. orange curacao
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1/2 oz. lemon juice
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”, from Hugo Ensslin’s “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”, 1916)
“De La Louisiane”
This was a very good, warming drink with a hint of refreshing absinthe…
2 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
3/4 oz. Benedictine
3 dashes absinthe
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry or 3
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”, from Stanley Clisby Arthur’s “Famous New Orleans Drinks”, 1937)
“Widow’s Kiss”
This was another good drink. This drink wasn’t all that special, but it’s not bad if you’re looking for a nice, smooth stiff drink…
2 oz. apple brandy
1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz. Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”, from George Kappeler’s “Modern American Drinks”, 1895)
Introducing “Scientist McGee’s Annual Cocktail Menu: 2011 Edition” – Now you can play along at home with the Scientist!
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits | Tags: absinthe, Angostura, Aviation, Benedictine, bitters, brandy, Brigadier, Campari, chartreuse, Cherry Heering, cocktails, creme de violette, dry vermouth, Ernest Hemingway, gin, grapefruit juice, green Chartreuse, Harry Craddock, Havana, lemon juice, lime juice, liquor, Manhattan, maraschino cherry, maraschino liqueur, Margarita, Martini, orange juice, Peter Heering Cherry Heering, pineapple juice, rum, rye whiskey, Savoy Cocktail Book, Sazerac, scotch, simple syrup, St. Germain, sweet vermouth, Tanqueray, tequila, The Last Word, triple sec, Vanilia Vodka, vermouth, whiskey, whisky Leave a commentWelcome to 2012, the second year of Scientist McGee! This blog was created on March 6, 2011. It’s hard to believe that it’s only 10
months old.
I’ve had a lot of fun along the way, trying new drinks and sharing them with all of you! All of you have been really nice and supportive, excited to 
see what new concoctions the Scientist would post next. It’s fun enjoying the drinks and it’s also fun to document them so that I can refer back to them later on, but it’s obviously a whole lot more fun to do, knowing that my friends and some like-minded strangers are actually reading it and getting a kick out of it too!
So thanks a lot for having fun with me, and I hope you tag along for some more cocktails in 2012 as well.
To celebrate the close of the first year of the Scientist McGee blog, I’m starting what will hopefully be an annual tradition – a recap of the cocktails shared on the blog in that year, in “Cocktail Book” form!
Click on the 2 links below to access a printable version of all the cocktails (except for one bad vodka drink I choose to forget, and therefore removed) from the Scientist McGee blog in 2011. The book is separated in to two documents, and put together make a very handy guide that I hope you all will enjoy. (Makes a great gift too – ha! ha!)
Scientist McGee’s 2011 Cocktail Menu COVER, TABLE OF CONTENTS and MEASUREMENTS
Scientist McGee’s 2011 Cocktail Menu
Thanks, and cheers!
SMcG
scientistmcgee 