Quarantini Happy Hour

I turned to an old favorite of mine, a “501”, to celebrate the end of the remote-work week yesterday evening. After a long day, a happy hour tipple with my wife before dinner is always a special treat.

My wife doesn’t like her drinks to be as boozy as I do mine so I oftentimes modify the recipes to suit her taste. So instead of the original single recipe of 1 1/2oz blanco tequila, 3/4oz ginger liqueur, 1/2oz lemon, and 1/4oz Aperol, I made two drinks using the following amounts: 3oz blanco tequila, 2 1/4oz ginger liqueur (Big O brand), 1 1/2oz lemon, and 3/4oz Aperol. Basically I doubled the tequila for two drinks but tripled all the other less stiff ingredients.

It worked out well and was a very nice start to our quarantined weekend, cheers!


Where to begin…

6-11-13 The little man 6-11-13 billiken Summer Relief 6-11-13

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”6-11-13 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!

6-11-13 billiken“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”Summer Relief 6-11-13

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)

Happy 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 IMG_2785Fernet 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!

IMG_2646“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”IMG_2500

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”)

IMG_2522“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! IMG_2632 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”IMG_2797

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!

IMG_28041.5 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”)


Been a long, long time…

 

After what I think is the longest stretch of time without a new Scientist McGee post, I’m back with a fair share of new drink recipes.  It’s been nearly 3 months since I last wrote, and in that time I’ve mixed up 8 new drink recipes and also become the proud owner of an all-new bar in my home!  I had outgrown my old bar which was an old victrola record player.  The victrola was a good bar and did a good job, but with the accumulation of more and more ingredients, and more and more glassware, I was sort of taking over our dining room table and buffet.  I was getting sideways looks from my wife, and I knew something had to be done to organize my growing hobby.  Lo and behold, as I’m mowing my lawn one nice Saturday, I go out to the alley in the back of my house, and I find the answer to my problem… an old cupboard of some sort.  Problem solved!  I LOVE my new bar!  Plenty of space for all my glasses, punchbowls, books and ingredients, with room for growth to spare!  Did I mention that I LOVE my new bar?

Any ways, it’s been 3 long months since I’ve done a new post, so it’s about time I get on with posting some new drink recipes.  I’ve got 8 for you, so here goes nothin’…

“Water Lily”

From my most beloved cocktail book, The PDT Cocktail Book, comes the first of eight cocktails.  The Water Lily’s a very well-rounded drink, albeit a bit candy-ish.  “Buyer beware.”

Equal parts…

gin

creme de violette

triple sec

lemon juice

Shake well with ice, and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

“Improved Gin Cocktail”

This recipe comes from David Wondrich’s wonderful Esquire magazine articles.  With my recently acquired first bottle of genever, the predecessor to gin, I was on the hunt for a good drink to introduce myself to this spirit.  I tried this drink with my new bottle of Boomsma brand genever, Oude style.  “Oude” meaning aged in oak barrels, and a bit of smokiness not typically associated with gin.

To be honest, my first taste of genever didn’t tell me if I loved it or not.  Maybe it’s an acquired taste? I’m not sure, but it was OK..  It reminds of me of Calvados or apply brandy actually…. smoky and whiskey-like, but with a little bit of a flat or shallow element and a lackluster sting at the end (?).  This one’s a simple drink, with just a nice taste of the maraschino.  With the smokiness and “woodsiness” of whiskey and the “bite” of gin, it’s a real go-between of the two.  Hmmm… time will tell, I guess.

2 oz. genever

.5-1t simple syrup

1t orange curacao, triple sec or maraschino liqueur*

2 dashes of bitters

(*I chose maraschino)

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

With a lemon peel, rub the rim, then squeeze and drop in to your cocktail.

“Rosebud”

From the great book, “The Art of the Bar”, comes this drink that all I can say is, “Ehh, not that great.”  I’m not a fan of the tequila and sweet vermouth combo.  Maybe you are?

1.5 oz. silver tequila

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth

1 dash of Campari

Rinse a chilled cocktail glass with a dash of rose water;

Stir the tequila and vermouth with ice and then strain in to the cocktail glass;

Flame an orange zest over the drink and then float it on top;

Lastly, add a few drops of Campari to the surface.

“Ehh”

“Junior”


This is a pretty solid cocktail.  I like it… It’s like a mellow sour.  The lime hangs in the background and gets pushed a little in to the shadows by the aggressive rye whiskey.  All four ingredients blend however in to a unique, unified flavor, almost a grapefruit-like flavor.  Interesting, and pretty solid.

2 oz. rye

3/4 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. Benedictine

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(PDT Cocktail Book)

“Rosita”

This is a tasty, “sophisticated” old-fashioned-type tequila drink.  A good drink, with a lot of balance between the sweetness of the tequila and the Italian vermouth and the dryness of the French vermouth, Campari and bitters.  It’s a very smooth drink, with just a nice bit of bitterness and a slight smoky/sweet flavor of the reposado tequila.  Good!

1.5 oz reposado tequila

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

1/2 oz. Campari

1 dash of Angostura bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

(“PDT Cocktail Book”)

“Weeski”

This drink surprised me… I thought it was very good.  This drink’s from the “PDT Cocktail Book” too.  However, the only reason I even tried this drink was because it came from David Wondrich, a man I respect and a cocktail expert I trust whole-heartedly.  Had it not been accompanied with Mr. Wondrich’s backing, I would’ve been too skeptical of the Irish whiskey – triple sec combo.  But I tried it, and I was pleasantly pleased.  It’s smooth, elegant and refreshing like a gin drink, but with the whiskey solid base.  It’s a damn good, easy-drinkin’ cocktail!

2 oz. Irish whiskey

3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc

1/2 oz. triple sec

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

“Paddy Wallbanger”

Ehh again… Not a very good drink, in my opinion.  I think it was kind of flat and “emotionless”.  It was mainly the dry vermouth… The whiskey and Galliano were OK together, but I feel like the vermouth is just a flat and bland connector between the two.  I won’t be making this one again.  Oh well.

1.5 oz. Irish whiskey

1.5 oz. dry vermouth

1/2 oz. Galliano

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(“PDT Cocktail Book”)

“Harvest Moon”

This drink is pretty good.  It’s nothing magnificent, but it is a good drink.  The ingredients make for a pretty unique, interesting flavor.  It’s a somewhat sweet drink, but with the slight aromatics of the green Chartreuse seeping through.

1.5 oz. rye

1 oz. Lillet Blanc

1/2 oz. apple brandy

1/4 oz. green Chartreuse

3 dashes Abbott’s (or in my case, Angostura) bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.


“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.)

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”)


Springtime Splurge Activated!

            

In 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

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!

Welcome 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


Let’s get snooty and drive around town!

            

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

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”)