St. Louis Old-Fashioned
Posted: April 19, 2020 Filed under: Cocktail recipe, cocktails, Drink recipe, Food and drink | Tags: Angostura bitters, Big O, bitters, bourbon, cocktails, ginger liqueur, Old Fashioned, Schnucks, St. Louis Leave a commentA “St. Louis Old-Fashioned” made with 2 1/4oz of Schnucks Supermarkets bourbon, 1/3oz of St. Louis-made ginger liqueur called “Big O”, 1/3oz of St. Louis City water (voted “Best Water in the Nation”), and 3 dashes of Angostura bitters (from Trinidad & Tobago) and garnished with a lemon twist.
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”)
Springtime Splurge Activated!
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, summer drinks, Uncategorized | Tags: absinthe, absinthe-rinsed coupe, anejo tequila, Angostura bitters, Aperol, bitters, Blood & Sand, Blood and Sand, chartreuse, Cherry Heering, Eclipse Cocktail, etsy.com, Fee Brothers, gin, green Chartreuse, Improved Whiskey Cocktail, lemon juice, maraschino, orange bitters, orchard pear, PDT Cocktail Book, pear liqueur, Rhubarb & Rye, Rhubarb and Rye, rhubarb bitters, Rothman and Winter orchard pear, rye, rye whiskey, Scientist McGee, Scientist McGee's Cocktail Glass Emporium, simple syrup, spring cocktails, springtime drinks, Statesman, summer cocktails, summer drinks, vintage bar ware, vintage cocktail glasses 1 CommentIn my last post, I declared winter to be officially over and introduced some new ingredients that I splurged on to inspire some new springtime drinks. Well, these ingredients are gleefully being used! I’ve got four new great cocktails for you featuring anejo tequila, Aperol, Rothman & Winter orchard pear liqueur and rhubarb bitters! All four of these cocktails are top notch, and so fortunately, I’m now sitting back, enjoying the beautiful weather and feeling very good about my bulk booze purchase.
(Side note: In my last post, I mentioned how I don’t normally drop that kind of money to buy this much alcohol all at once. So to see how I’m digging myself out of the debt I now owe to the household budget, see my new business venture selling vintage cocktail glasses at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScientistMcGee?ref=si_shop)
“Eclipse Cocktail”
The first cocktail, and definitely my favorite of the four, is the Eclipse Cocktail. This drink is SOOOO good! It kind of reminds of me of the Blood & Sand cocktail (one of my favorites!) in that the smokiness of the anejo tequila reminds me of the B&S’s scotch with lemon instead of orange, Aperol instead of sweet vermouth, and of course the Cherry Heering as Cherry Heering. This drink is mighty good. It’s got a fresh kick of tequila shrouded in a velvety curtain of citrus and cherry… mmmm.
2 oz. anejo tequila
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. Cherry Heering
3/4 oz. lemon juice
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon peel.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”)
“Rhubarb & Rye”
This next drink is an interesting one for me. It’s very heavy on the rhubarb, which at least in my town of St. Louis, is not the most common flavor. Yes, I see a rhubarb pie from time to time, but when I do it’s usually a pleasant surprise and seems like a rare opportunity. In fact, I’d never tried rhubarb until I was an adult. I like rhubarb though. Something… maybe its obscurity, maybe the fact that it’s a vegetable but it tastes like a fruit, I don’t know… but something about it kind of freaks me out in a good way. I like it though, and I like this drink that is definitely heavy on the rhubarb… an entire half-ounce of the rhubarb bitters in fact! The first time I made this drink, I scaled the use of the bitters back to 5 dashes (which is still typically a liberal amount of bitters). The second time I made it, I went for the entire half-ounce, as the recipe calls for, and it was a good call. The rhubarb definitely takes a front seat, but that’s the point I guess. It’s a very refreshing, springtime whiskey drink. The rye definitely plays in the distant background and the rhubarb, along with its citrus friends of lemon and orange, takes center stage. Very nice!
1.5 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. Aperol
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. rhubarb bitters
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon peel.
(http://www.kindredcocktails.com)
“Statesman”
This was an interesting drink too. It reminded me of a Martini. It was good, and had the crisp bite that a Martini delivers. The Chartreuse, oddly enough, takes the place of the Martini’s olive(s), and the pear liqueur smoothly and effortlessly takes the place of the dry vermouth. If you like a Martini, but are open to something new, give this one a try.
2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. Rothman & Winter orchard pear liqueur
1 bar spoon of green Chartreuse
1 dash of orange bitters
Stir well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon peel.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”)
“Improved Whiskey Cocktail”
Last, but definitely not least, is the “Improved Whiskey Cocktail”. This is a very good drink! The maraschino and absinthe rinse add a real depth and very subtle complexity to the nice and smooth whiskey base. The whiskey’s nice and smooth because of the simple syrup. This is a very good whiskey drink that goes down very nicely.
2 oz. rye whiskey
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
1/4 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir well and strain in to a chilled, absinthe-rinsed rocks glass.
Add a few ice cubes and garnish with a lemon peel.
(“The PDT Cocktail Book”)
Money well spent indeed! Spring is here!
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)
Let’s get snooty and drive around town!
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, cocktails, drinks, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, Uncategorized | Tags: Algonquin, Angostura bitters, brandy, Cherry Heering, cognac, lemon juice, Night Shade, Savoy Cocktail Book, Sidecar, simple syrup, sugar rim, The Sidecar, triple sec, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt cocktail 1 Comment
It’s been nearly 2 months since I last added something to the ole SMcG blog, and it’s because of two reasons… 1- the holidays – I haven’t been experimenting and trying new drinks with all the running around, and I’ve been guzzling the old classic stand-by of brandy and eggnog, along with the classic champagne cocktails for the new year, and 2- bad fortune – The drinks I have tried, I haven’t been too crazy about, except for 2 that wound up being among my list of favorite drinks – “The Vanderbilt” (the “snooty” tongue-in-cheek reference of this post’s title) and “The Sidecar” (the “drive around” part of the title – I love the visual of drinking this cocktail whilst sitting gleefully in a motorcycle side car)!
As my readers may have come to know, I love cocktails with just a few ingredients the most. Nothing against drinks with a laundry list of ingredients, they can be great too. But there’s something about enjoying the simple combination of 2 or maybe 3 ingredients, that allows you to really enjoy the taste of each individual ingredient. Plus, unlike some “showmen” of the drink slinging business/hobby, I like quick and simple drinks to throw together. I like to have a drink come to mind, and have it in my hand in just about 5 minutes, enjoying instant gratification. Both of these drinks (the Vanderbilt and the Sidecar) fit that description.
For these 2 drinks that I love, I also tried 2 drinks that I did not care for much – the “Night Shade” (1.5 oz bourbon, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz orange juice and 1/4 oz yellow Chartreuse, served on the rocks with a half slice of orange and a half slice of lemon for garnish) and the “Algonquin” (1.5 oz rye,3/4 oz dry vermouth, 3/4 oz pineapple juice and 2-3 dashes of orange bitters, served up). The Night Shade was OK, but the Algonquin was really terrible.
“The Vanderbilt Cocktail”
The “Vanderbilt” however – oh wow! What a good drink! This is another one from the Savoy Cocktail Book. It’s a smooth, warming drink, good for the cold months of January and February. It’s a stiff drink, but one that’s softened up by the cherry brandy and the simple syrup. If you like brandy, but you want a softer drink, try this. It’s not overly cherry-ish or sweet, just a smooth brandy cocktail that’ll warm you up. Delicous! (Plus it’s fun to drink something called the “Vanderbilt”, makes me feel classy, and a little snooty – ha!)
1.5 oz. brandy or cognac
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
3 dashes of simple syrup
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The Savoy Cocktail Book”)
“The Sidecar”
The Sidecar’s another great brandy drink. It’s not as wintery of a drink, but still gives you that nice smooth brandy taste. It’s almost a brandy margarita, only with a delicious sweet sugar rim instead of salt. It’s sweet and sour, and super refreshing! Brandy is quickly moving up my list of favorite base spirits in my cocktails!
1.5 oz. brandy or cognac
3/4 oz. triple sec
3/4 oz. lemon juice
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass that’s been rimmed with sugar using a wedge of the lemon.
Yellow Chartreuse
Posted: November 27, 2011 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, whiskey | Tags: 1 Cocktail, 2, 3, Angostura bitters, Aurora's Bed, Benedictine, chartreuse, Cloister, dry vermouth, Fine & Dandy Cocktail, Fine and Dandy Cocktail, gin, grapefruit juice, green Chartreuse, lemon juice, lime juice, muddle, Mujer Verde, Old Fashioned, rye whiskey, saffron, saffron-infused simple syrup, San Francisco, San Francisco cocktail, simple syrup, sugar cube, triple sec, water, whiskey, Yellow Chartreuse Leave a comment
Well, I did it… I bought my first bottle of Yellow Chartreuse. Green Chartreuse is one of my favorite things, so I’ve been intrigued by it’s yellow sister for a while now and knew that sooner or later, I’d bite the bullet and need to reunite these siblings. I must say, I really like the yellow Chartreuse as well. But not nearly as much as it’s powerful counterpart of the green variety. Chartreuse is a pricey 
liqueur (around $55-60 a bottle). While I really like the yellow Chartreuse, a milder, sweeter, less potent (80 proof, as opposed to the 110 proof of the green) version of the liqueur, I don’t know if it’s really worth the price for my budget. The green variety is worth every penny, plus some, in my opinion. I’d probably pay $100 a bottle if I needed to, and for some context, I’ve never paid more than the price of green Chartreuse for any other liquor. But to be quite honest, I don’t know if I’ll rush to the booze merchant, to pony up the money for another bottle of the yellow stuff, when I run out. I don’t think that this’ll be the only bottle I own, but I also won’t be heartbroken if my bar goes some months without it. At this point at least (and I’ll be the first to admit that my mind might completely change, 360 degrees, by the time I reach the bottom of this bottle, as often my taste does during the course of just a 3 ounce cocktail), I don’t think the price tag justifies treating it as a staple in my bar. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying it quite a bit while it lasts. And I’ve mixed up 4 drinks using the yellow stuff, and 2 of which I love! So, who knows what the future holds! Following, are four drinks that call for yellow Chartreuse, one drink I made just because I loved the name, one 100% classic cocktail, and the last one just because I wanted a drink that called for Benedictine and the drink’s named after one of the best cocktail towns in the world. Enjoy!
“3, 2, 1 Cocktail”
I found this drink, and “Aurora’s Bed” and the “Cloister”, all from a blog called “Cocktail Virgin Slut” (http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/) – what a great wealth of cocktail recipes! This drink, the 3, 2, 1, was the first drink I tried with my new yellow Chartreuse. This was a nice and smooth drink, and I did notice that the yellow Chartreuse was indeed sweeter, more floral and smoother than the kick, bite and punch of the green Chartreuse.
1.5 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
Stir well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/)
“Mujer Verde”
This drink was delicious! It reminds me a lot of the “Last Word” (https://scientistmcgee.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/trips-back-and-forth-to-the-booze-merchant/), one of my favorite cocktails! I must love the combination of green Chartreuse with lime juice – they go so well together!
1 oz. gin
1/3 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
1/2 oz. green Chartreuse
1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lime.
(“The Art of the Bar”)
“Aurora’s Bed”
For this drink, I made my first infused simple syrup – a saffron-infused simple syrup. To make this, I followed the basic recipe for making simple syrup… equal parts sugar to water, and boil (https://scientistmcgee.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/dashes-and-splashes/). But the water I used had saffron left in it overnight. What I did was use 6 threads of saffron for a quarter cup of water. I placed the saffron threads in the cup of water and let it sit out overnight. The next day, I used this water to combine with sugar and boil to make the simple syrup – very easy!
I then used this saffron-infused simple syrup to make the “Aurora’s Bed” cocktail. It was a very good drink… sweet, sour and herbal. But even though making the saffron-infused simple syrup was easy to make, it took some time, and so I don’t know if I can honestly say that this drink was worth the effort.
2 oz. gin
1 oz. saffron-infused simple syrup
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with lemon or orange.
(http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/)
“Cloister”
Here’s yet another fantastic drink! I love this one! The herbal taste of the yellow Chartreuse mixed with the tartness of the grapefruit is delicious. A top notch cocktail! (I am a huge fan of grapefruit juice in my cocktails though.)
1.5 oz. gin
1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
1/4 lemon juice
1/4 simple syrup
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon.
(http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/)
“Fine & Dandy Cocktail”
This drink was OK. I only made it because I was attracted to its name. It’s just a very sour drink with an orange twist (kind of tangy though unfortunately). A little simple syrup might help out, but still a decent drink.
1.5 oz. gin
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. triple sec
1 dash of Angostura bitters
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“Savoy Cocktail Book”)
“Old Fashioned”
One of the most classic of all classic cocktails – the “Old Fashioned”. It’s pretty wonderful… a very nice way to drink whiskey as an alternative to just whiskey and water. Sugar, bitters, water and bourbon – excellent! This recipe is based upon the one Matt Seiter featured in Feast magazine last month.
2.25 oz. whiskey
1/2 oz. water
1 sugar cube
2 dashes Angostura bitters
3 ice cubes
Muddle the water, sugar cube and bitters. Add whiskey and 2 ice cubes, stir. Add 3rd ice cube and serve.
(http://www.feaststl.com/recipes/article_29fd5cc4-ffe4-11e0-902b-0019bb30f31a.html)
“San Francisco”
This is just a random drink I found in my “Bartender’s Bible”, as I was looking for a new drink that called for Benedictine. It’s an OK drink… a bit too sour for me, but then again, I’d be totally content to have another one if someone made another one for me. Ha!
1.5 oz. whiskey
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1 oz. lemon juice
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The Bartender’s Bible”)
scientistmcgee 