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”)
Been a long, long time…
Posted: November 11, 2012 Filed under: cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, on the rocks, Uncategorized | Tags: Angostura, apple brandy, Art of the Bar, Benedictine, bitters, Campari, Cointreau, creme de violette, David Wondrich, dry vermouth, french vermouth, Galliano, genever, genever oude, gin, green Chartreuse, Harvest Moon, Improved Gin Cocktail, Irish whiskey, italian vermouth, Junior, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, orange bitters, orange curacao, oude style, Paddy Wallbanger, PDT Cocktail Book, Redemption Rye, reposado tequila, Rosebud, Rosita, silver tequila, simple syrup, sweet vermouth, triple sec, Water Lily, Weeski 4 Comments
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.)
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”)
Step-by-Step through Forgotten, Delicious Cocktails
Posted: July 29, 2012 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, cocktails, drinks, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, summer drinks, Uncategorized | Tags: amaro, Amer Picon, apple brandy, brandy, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Cocktail, Busnel, Calvados, Calvados Cocktail, dry ver, East India Cocktail, grenadine, High West, Manhattan, maraschino, Missouri wine, Norton wine, Official Mixer's Manual, orange bitters, orange curacao, Patrick Duffy, Patrick Gavin Duffy, Pegu Club Cocktail, pineapple, Ramazzotti, Riverboat Rye, rye whiskey, S.G. Cocktail, Ste. Genevieve, Ted Haigh, The Brooklyn, Torani Amer, triple sec, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, wine 12 Comments
Hey there everyone, I’m back. After nearly 2 months of being MIA, I’m back to share the tales of 5 new cocktails and 2 new books!
That’s right. I haven’t posted anything since May. My lapse is owed to a couple things… 1, I’ve been really busy with my day job (less time to drink and write) and 2, I went to Ste. Genevieve, MO with my wife to celebrate our 10th anniversary in early June. Ste. Genevieve is about an hour or so out of St. Louis and is one of the several regions of Missouri wine country. The weekend trip basically rekindled my fondness of wines, and ever since, I’ve been back on sort of a wine kick. It’s been a nice break from mixing up drinks, and just lazily pouring stuff out of a bottle and kicking back in the evenings. The only problem with wine though is the fact that I tend to fall asleep on the couch at about 9pm, waking up, with the TV on, at midnight, and then dragging myself to bed in the middle of the night. Wine’s great, but it makes me very, very lazy.
Even though I’ve been drinking much more wine lately, that’s not to say that I haven’t been replenishing and growing my spirits/liqueurs supply, as well as my cocktail books supply. Since my last post, I’ve invested in a couple new types of rye whiskey 
(High West Double Rye Whiskey and Riverboat Rye Whiskey), a bottle of Calvados (apple brandy) and a bottle of amaro (Ramazzotti
brand). I’ve also invested my time and attention in to Ted Haigh’s “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails” (http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Spirits-Forgotten-Cocktails-Alamagoozlum/dp/1592535615). This is an awesome book, and apparently, one of the pioneering books of the current cocktail renaissance (originally published in 2004, “unearthing” these “obscure” drinks at the time, that are very well known today, just 8 years later). Even though, 8 years has dated this book, it’s still an awesome book worth buying for the way it’s laid out and the entertaining writing of Ted Haigh, aka “Dr. Cocktail”. Another book I’ve really enjoyed reading is the 1956 edition of Patrick Gavin Duffy’s (not to be confused with the curly-haired dad from the sitcom “Step by Step”) “The Official Mixer’s Manual” (http://www.amazon.com/Official-Mixers-Manual-Home-
Professional/dp/B002CNKC7Y/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343534430&sr=1-7&keywords=official+mixer%27s+manual). I actually received this book as a surprise gift in the mail from my good friends in Lincoln, NE. (I love any kind of fun mail, but receiving a cocktail book in the mail as a surprise? It doesn’t get much better than that!) Actually, I had picked up a copy of this book at a book fair back in April, but it was an edition from the late ’60’s or ’70’s (I can’t remember exactly) and I hadn’t really gotten in to it yet. However, this earlier edition from the ’50’s is way more old school in its approach and references, and makes for a much more captivating read. I’ve really enjoyed flipping through this book, which organizes its drinks by base liquor and liqueur. Originally published in 1934, it’s definitely a great, classic cocktail book and really a “who’s who” of cocktails. It features a huge amount of drinks that are very popular today. It’s a very dependable, quality cocktail guide.
Anyways, I’ve gotten a bit off track. Back to what I was saying… Yes, I’ve been a bit absent as I’ve been drinking the “lazy man’s drink”, but as I’ve been drinking my wine, I’ve been enjoying reading up and jotting down some new cocktails to try (at least for a few minutes before I’d fall asleep). Here in this new post, I share with you the “East India Cocktail”, the “Calvados Cocktail”, the “Pegu Club Cocktail”, the “S.G. Cocktail” and the “Brooklyn”. Enjoy!
“Brooklyn”
The Brooklyn cocktail is a cocktail I’ve been wanting to try ever since I got in to making cocktails. For whatever reason, it caught my eye the moment I saw it online or in some book I was flipping through. I think it caught my eye because it’s got a couple of my favorite ingredients – rye and maraschino. It also caught my eye because of 2 other characteristics – I loved the name and also, my interest was 
piqued by an ingredient I’d never heard of… Amer Picon. I’d never heard of Amer Picon and then as I started asking for it in stores around town, no one ever had it. (?) Come to later find out it’s because it’s a French liqueur that for some reason isn’t available in the U.S. Well, I gave up on that idea, figuring I’d never get to try a Brooklyn cocktail, but at the same time, never really forgetting about the drink. It was always in the back of my mind as a drink I’d love to try, and thought about from time to time. Well, thanks to “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails”, I learned today that there are in fact substitute ingredients that come close to matching Amer Picon that I could get my hands on. He encourages the use of Torani Amer as a close substitute, but I can’t get my hands on that in St. Louis. So the closest I could do was get a bottle of Ramazzotti. Amer Picon, Torani Amer and Ramazzotti are all amaro liqueurs. “Amaro” is Italian for bitter, and these are bitter aperitifs, made of a mixture of herbs, spices, roots, citrus peels, etc. According to descriptions of Ramazzotti Amaro online, it’s a 200 year old recipe of 33 herbs and spices, with “notes of orange peel, cardamom, myrrh, galangal and cinnamon”. Most of the amaros on the market are made in Italy, but Amer Picon is one of the few (if not the only one) made in France. But alas, it’s not available here in the states, even though you’ll see it in many old recipes. So, I’m not exactly sure how close Ramazzotti comes to Amer Picon, but from what I can gather from info online, it comes close enough. I think it’s pretty damn interesting tasting, and this drink is pretty damn tasty! The Brooklyn is similar to a Manhattan, but with a nice, heavy layer of the amaro adding some complexity and depth. I love the healthy dose of maraschino. Mmmm… it’s a very good drink – sort of a deeper, more herbal Manhattan. Very good!
2 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. dry vermouth
1/4 oz. Amer Picon (or Ramazzotti?)
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“East India Cocktail”
This is a pretty good drink I found in the PDT Cocktail Book. It’s a pretty mellow drink (albeit, pretty heavy on the “orangeyness”), and a nice cross between a “tropical drink” and a “real cocktail” (no offense, anyone… Some of my favorite drinks are tropical drinks). The orange curacao/pineapple combo really lightens the drink up, while the dark rum and bitters brings it back down to earth. Pretty good.
1 3/4 oz. brandy
1/2 oz. orange curacao
1/2 oz. pineapple
1/4 oz. dark rum
2 dashes of orange bitters
Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with an orange peel.
“Calvados Cocktail”
This drink was decent. At first, the drink tasted a little “medicinal”, but after a while, it grew on me and into a somewhat complex taste with its healthy dose of bitters. I’ve never been a big fan of cocktails with OJ, but this one’s OK. I’m not convinced however, whether I really like apple brandy or not. I feel like I could like apple brandy, but I don’t know… Maybe it’s just that there aren’t many good apple brandy cocktails out there? I don’t know… there’s not a ton of recipes calling for apple brandy or Calvados, but the ones I’ve tried, I’m not crazy for. Hmmm… only time will tell, I guess. I’m not ready to give up on it.
1 oz. calvados
1 oz. orange
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. orange bitters
Shake well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
“Pegu Club Cocktail”
This is a very good cocktail! As I’ve said a hundred times before, I’m not normally a fan of gin and orange juice, but I have to say… gin and triple sec and lime juice is great! This drink is more of a daiquiri than anything else, and it’s a solidly well put-together summer drink! I like how it’s a really refreshing summer drink, but the bitters tone it down a bit and make it more of a complex drink. Recommended for sure!
1.5 oz. gin
1/2 oz. triple sec
3/4 oz. lime juice
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“S.G. Cocktail”
This is a pretty good drink. It’s nothing super special really, but just a nice drink for a sit on the porch after a hard day’s work in the summertime. It’s just a nice and simple sour rye and juice drink. The lemon actually packs quite a punch, if not a bit too much of a punch. That being said, I was happy to find, just a few pages earlier in Duffy’s book, a drink called “Ink Street”. The “Ink Street” is almost the same ingredients, but instead of an equal parts mix, it calls for 2 parts rye, and only 1 part orange and 1 part lemon (no grenadine either). I think this proportion might suit my taste a little better.
1 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. orange juice
1 t grenadine
Shake well with ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
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
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”)
Some more monks enter the scene.
Posted: October 9, 2011 Filed under: alcohol, bitters, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: Angostura, Benedictine, bitters, brandy, chartreuse, cocktails, egg white, grenadine, lime juice, Millionaire, monks, Monte Carlo, Peychaud's bitters, rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, triple sec, vermouth, Vieux Carre 1 Comment
I’m back to write about some new friends for the old bottles in my liquor cabinet. And wouldn’t you know it, they’re another bunch of
monks. In addition to the great Carthusian monks that make Chartreuse, my cabinet is now home to my latest addition, the Benedictine liqueur, originally made by the monks at the Benedictine abbey in Normandy, France. While Benedictine is not made up of as many herbs as Chartreuse, it is made from 27 different herbs & spices, and its recipe dates back to more than 500 years ago. But don’t be mistaken, other than its ties to monks from centuries ago and its wonderful use of herbs and spices, there is no other similarities between the two wonderful liqueurs. Benedictine is a strong, 80-proof sweeter liqueur. I first heard of Benedictine because of the drink called the Bobby Burns (scotch, sweet vermouth and Benedictine). For quite some time, I’ve wanted to obtain my own bottle, and now, just in time for the colder months, I have my own. I actually haven’t made a Bobby Burns with it yet, but have experimented a little with two very top-notch cocktails featuring the liqueur – the Monte Carlo and a Vieux Carre. In addition to these two cocktails featuring Benedictine, I’ve thrown in a random, unassociated cocktail called the Millionaire, a rye whiskey drink that uses an egg white, eggs being something rather new for me to use in drinks. While I didn’t care for the Millionaire all that much, the two Benedictine drinks are up there among some of my favorite drinks I’ve ever made. Enjoy…
Monte Carlo
This is one of my new favorite drinks! I love drinks that have just a couple or a few ingredients, quick and easy to make, that are just simple and good. The Manhattan for example, one of my favorite drinks, and this drink reminds me very much of a Manhattan, but quite different tasting. Just 2 main ingredients with some bitters – simple and perfect! Here’s a drink that’s perfect in the evening time, when you come home from a hard day at work. It’s no fuss at all to make, and it’s a soothing, stiff drink. It’s got the kick of rye, with the sweetness of the Benedictine that’s reminiscent of the vermouth in a Manhattan, with the nice taste of bitters, and the refreshing zing of the lemon twist. It’s a very well-crafted, simple cocktail. I highly recommend it!
2 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. Benedictine
1 dash of Angostura bitters
1 lemon twist for garnish
Stir well with ice, and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass
(“The Art of the Bar”)
Vieux Carre
Here’s another really nice drink featuring Benedictine, the Vieux Carre. I first tried this drink at my local bar, Sanctuaria, and then later recreated it at home using my new bottle of the Benedictine. I don’t typically make a lot of drinks on the rocks, but more and more I’m becoming fond of these drinks. And the Vieux Carre is a good one to add to my rotation. It’s got a lot of different flavors going on in the mix – brandy, rye, vermouth, Benedictine, and even two kinds of bitters. It’s another stiff drink with a refreshing note because of the sweetness of the brandy, Benedictine, Peychaud’s bitters and vermouth. It’s another really nice stiff drink. I guess that’s another selling point of Benedictine for me… Just like Chartreuse, it’s a liqueur with a high alcohol content. Not nearly as alcoholic as Chartreuse, but high enough so that it gives a cocktail a real kick.
3/4 oz. brandy/cognac
3/4 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
1/4 oz. Benedictine
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
Garnish with a lemon twist
Stir well with ice, then strain in to a rocks glass with ice.
Millionaire
This cocktail’s kind of a strange one to me. For one, there’s a few different recipes out there for drinks all called a “Millionaire”. All the different recipes refer to this drink as an old classic, but the recipes are about as different from each other as night and day. I generally find a drink that sounds good to me in a book or online somewhere. Before I make it however, I usually look up a few other recipes online to kind of see the variations of different recipes and look for the one that sounds best to me. Usually I find small variations, that probably don’t even make that much difference, but still, one may sound better to me than another due to one using more or less of a particular ingredient. So anyways, I looked up this drink, comprised of rye, triple sec and egg white, and was surprised to find other recipes (still referred to as an old classic) that don’t feature any of these ingredients, but instead call for sloe gin, apple brandy and rum! There apparently is two old classic drinks, both called a Millionaire, that are two completely different drinks! If anyone knows the story behind this, let me know, because I’m very interested in hearing what it is. So anyways, below is a recipe for what perhaps some people call a Millionaire. It’s completely different from what some other people also call a Millionaire. Either way, at the end of the day, whether this is the true Millionaire cocktail or the other one is, or there’s two drinks with the same name, I didn’t care for this drink all that much. It did not have a strong taste of anything really, but rather a cooled down, light taste of rye, with a frothy and silky texture. There weren’t really any other strong flavors jumping out in the drink either, but just a light silky, watered-down taste of rye. I don’t know if it’s because this is a really old drink, and perhaps it has not stood the test of time due to Americans’ tastes having possibly changed over the years or not, but it does seem to have a very “old fashioned” sensibility about it, kind of like an egg cream drink. An egg cream drink was quite a treat for people back in the day, but to me it’s just not that flavorful. But people used to really enjoy it. This is what I imagine is the case with this drink. I don’t know… maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a big fan.
2 oz. rye whiskey
1/2 oz. triple sec
1-2 dashes grenadine
1/2 oz. egg white
Shake vigorously for about 60 seconds (because of the egg white), and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
A random assortment of drinks, tied together by nothing more than time.
Posted: August 6, 2011 Filed under: Chartreuse, cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: Art of the Bar, Bartender's Bible, basil, basil cocktail, bitters, blue curacao, Blue Devil, celery bitters, chartreuse, cocktails, dark rum, dry vermouth, Fee Brothers, Gary Regan, gin, grapefruit juice, green Chartreuse, lemon juice, lime juice, liquor, Loop Tonic, maraschino liqueur, muddle, Plantation, rum, simple syrup, Sitarski, tequila, triple sec, vermouth, white tequila 2 Comments
This latest post is a random grab-bag of cocktails. There’s no overarching theme. There’s no prominent new ingredient used in all of the drinks. They’re not all from some new book I bought.
These four drinks have nothing in common other than the fact that I’ve made and drank each of them in the last couple of weeks, since my last post. Each of them comes from its own, unique source as well… the Loop Tonic from a blog I read called “Spirited Cocktails”, the Plantation from one of the first cocktail books I ever bought called “The Art of the Bar”, the Sitarski from the actual first cocktail book I ever bought, Gary Regan’s “The Bartender’s Bible”, and the “Blue Devil” from a book that I picked up at a used book fair called “The New York Bartender’s Guide”.
Loop Tonic
The Loop Tonic has knocked my socks off! It's a drink I just happened to read about in a blog called "Spirited Cocktails". When I read about this drink, I was shocked by the idea of putting tequila and green Chartreuse together (I'd never tried that), but looking at all of the ingredients together, I thought it looked really, really good, and had the potential to be amazing. I was intrigued... especially by the notion of celery bitters. And that's the only thing I needed to go out and buy to make this drink that seemed so exotic to me. So that day, I went out and got some celery bitters, and made up this drink. I'm so glad I did because this drink is super delicious! I flip, and grin ear-to-ear, when I think about making this drink, because it's so tasty and such an interesting drink! All of the ingredients meld very nicely together, and the celery bitters add a really nice bite to the drink. If you like Chartreuse and you have 6 bucks to spare, I highly recommend going out and buying the celery bitters to try this drink.
2 oz. white tequila
1 oz. dry vermouth
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1/2 oz. green Chartreuse
dash of celery bitters
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“Spirited Cocktails” – http://spiritedcocktails.com/index.php/2011/07/29/beautiful-combinations-tequila-chartreuse/ )
The Plantation
This is a really great drink as well. I found this drink while flipping through the pages of perhaps my favorite cocktail book I own, “The Art of the Bar” by Jeff Hollinger & Rob Schwartz. I was bored and wanted to try something new, when I stumbled across this drink which called for basil. Since the basil plant on our back porch had just recently begun to look healthy and good, I figured this’d be a fun one to try. It was a good call, because this drink is really good! The fresh taste of the basil, mixed with the lime and gin, make this a really refreshing summer cocktail. I love basil in general… I love its taste and I love its smell… basil makes me happy. So this drink, incorporating fresh basil, makes me happy too.
5 fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 oz. grapefruit juice
1 basil leaf for a garnish (the original recipe calls for a slice of grapefruit as the garnish)
Muddle the basil and sugar in the bottom of your cocktail shaker until it’s like a paste, then add the rest of the ingredients and ice.
Shake well and then strain, using a fine-mesh sieve, in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The Art of the Bar”)
Sitarski
Again, an evening where I was a little bored of my standing drink menu, I started flipping through the pages of the very first cocktail book I ever bought, Gary Regan’s “The Bartender’s Bible”. I wanted to make a drink using dark rum in order to try the Jamaican rum my wife and I had won a couple of months ago, while on vacation, playing “Name That Tune” on a stormy day at our resort in Montego Bay. This bottle of rum holds a special place in my heart for two reasons… 1- It reminds me of one of the most fun vacations I’ve ever been on, and 2- It reminds me of the victorious, proud feeling I had when my wife and I schooled a bunch of youngsters by knowing more music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s than they did. I always love when music comes up in trivia games, as it lights the biggest competitive fire in my belly. But I digress, that’s neither here nor there. I wanted to try the rum, and so I picked out this drink, the Sitarski. This drink’s pretty good when you’re looking for big ole drink with rum that’s easy to kick back and enjoy.
1.5 oz. dark rum
2 oz. grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Shake well and strain in to an old-fashioned glass filled with ice cubes.
(“The Bartender’s Bible”)
The Blue Devil
This last drink was purely made because I wanted to try a bottle of blue curacao that I’d just bought. So I flipped to another cocktail book’s index and looked under “B” for blue. Sure enough, there were 12 drinks with “blue” in the name, and 9 of them contained blue curacao. This drink’s nothing special, but if you really need a blue drink, it’s good enough.
2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 tablespoon maraschino liqueur
1 teaspoon blue curacao
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(“The New York Bartender’s Guide”)
Back in St. Louis
Posted: June 5, 2011 Filed under: absinthe, cocktails, gin, lime juice, mixed drinks, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: absinthe, Aviation, bitters, Blue Moon, champagne, Cherry Heering, Cherry Vodka, cocktails, creme de violette, creme yvette, Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway, Galliano, Galliano Margarita, gin, lemon juice, lime juice, Limon Sunrise, limoncello, liquor, maraschino liqueur, Margarita, Mary Pickford, Peter Heering Cherry Heering, pineapple juice, rum, tequila, The Stork Club, triple sec, Vanilia Vodka 1 Comment
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update to the ole Scientist McGee’s blog… a really long time. It seems like ages in fact. Since my last post, over a month ago, I took a trip to Jamaica. It was a wonderful and restful time away from the daily grind. My wife and I stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay… all you can eat, all you can drink. I had a lot of tropical drinks, from morning to mid-morning, to lunch, to afternoon, to dinner, to after dinner and so on… repeat for 7 days. It was great… the drinks were very nice and easy and thirst quenching… lots and lots of Tequila Sunrises and an occassional Margarita thrown in there, amongst random others like the Bob Marley, Rum Punch, Pina Colata, etc. I even got some classic drinks mixed in as well, like a Rusty Nail, a Harvey Wallbanger, a Manhattan, etc. The people in Jamaica are amongst the nicest I’ve ever met, and the bartenders were no exception. They were happy to oblige and make a few drinks for me that weren’t on the menu because you can only take so much rum and tropical drinks after a few days. I even tried a new drink that I’d read about in the book I brought along to read on the beach. (Which reminds me… I’ve added a new piece to the side bar of my blog, on the right-hand side… It’s a list of books that I own or have read, and a brief rating of what I thought of them… check it out. And if you have any recommendations for me, please let me know.) The book I read on the beach was called “The Little Green Book of Absinthe”, and as the title suggests, it’s a book dedicated entirely to Absinthe. Pretty fun read, with little anecdotes, quotes and tales of the history of Absinthe. I was even happier to notice that the bartenders at the resort had in fact a bottle of Pernod behind the bar. A lot of the drinks in the book had too unusual of ingredients for me to order them, but one in particular struck my fancy on the 5th day of our stay. My wife had gotten hooked on Mimosas while we were there, and so I thought that the “Death in the Afternoon” cocktail sounded like a perfect companion to hers.
A “Death in the Afternoon” was a classic Ernest Hemingway drink and is…
1/2 oz. Absinthe
4.5 oz champagne
Stir together in a champagne flute.
(recipe from “The Little Green Book of Absinthe”)
And now for all the different drinks I’ve tried since my last post, in no particular order…
“Aviation” (w/ creme de violette)
Shortly after a post of mine a couple back, called “Trips back and forth to the booze merchant…”, in which I had just recently acquired some maraschino liqueur, I got a great tip from a reader who recommended me trying it with some Creme de Violette (some times referred to as Creme Yvette). Thank you to him, because it’s a great addition and a serious twist on the drink itself! As you might imagine, the creme de violette is very floral and a very strong flavor… a little added to a drink goes a long way, and definitely “blues” up the color of the drink, which is kind of fun. In the Aviation, it definitely adds another dimension. In this drink, using only 1/4 ounce is nice as then it’s somewhat subtle, as opposed to its strong presence in the “Blue Moon” coming up next.
2 oz gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/4 oz creme de violette
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“Blue Moon”
Fresh in to my creme de violette kick, I attended a wonderful wedding reception with a very nice open bar and I spotted a bottle of the creme de violette behind the bar… but no maraschino liqueur. I asked the bartender what he’d recommend for the creme de violette, and he made me a “Blue Moon”. Pretty great drink, I must say. The violet melds wonderfully with the lemon, and it seems to almost bond with and transform the gin. It’s a drink of 3 really good flavors working really well together. Each flavor seems very clear and distinct, but also blend nicely to make an overall flavor greater than the sum of its parts.
2 oz gin
1/2 oz creme de violette
1/2 oz lemon juice
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“Mary Pickford”
This drink was one I found in the book “The Cocktail Hour”, which is a book celebrating the old fashioned drinks and their history, and I wound up really liking this one. It’s a great summertime drink. It’s sweet & refreshing without being “candy sweet”, due in large part to the nutty element of the maraschino liqueur. The recipe looks very simple, but its taste is surprisingly complex… again, thanks in large part to the maraschino liqueur, which leads me to my revelation that – the maraschino liqueur is king! (in my book anyway)
2 oz light rum
2 oz pineapple juice
1 t maraschino liqueur
1 t grenadine
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(recipe from “The Cocktail Hour”)
“The Stork Club”
Another drink I grabbed from this same book was “The Stork Club”, named after a famed nightclub in New York. I didn’t care much for this drink, and after this one and “The Bronx Cocktail” from my last post, I’ve decided that I don’t care for the gin and orange juice combo in drinks. It tastes like watered down OJ to me, and similar to Tang… which is never good in my opinion. Oh well. The lime juice made it a little better, but still the gin and OJ combo tastes flat & hollow to me, leaving me wanting something more.
1.5 oz gin
1/2 oz triple sec
1/4 oz lime juice
1 oz orange juice
Dash of Angostura bitters
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
(recipe from “The Cocktail Hour”)
“Cherry Vodka”
I made this drink on a whim because I wanted to try a new drink using Cherry Heering. I found this one online, and I did not like it. But full disclosure, I don’t like vodka (as you may have noticed, there are very few vodka drinks in any of my posts). Since vodka doesn’t have much of a taste, this drink tasted like I was drinking just lime juice with some Cherry Heering, and a noticeable “hole of nothingness” where the vodka was. I won’t be making this one again ever.
1.5 oz vodka
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.
“Galliano Margarita”
I bought my first bottle of Galliano yesterday (along with 2 new glasses, pictured here)! To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the Galliano, as I was sort of just buying it because my wife likes “Harvey Wallbanger” drinks, so I bought a half-bottle (375 ml). But boy was I in for a very pleasant surprise! I love it! I was under the wrong impression that Galliano was strictly a vanilla liqueur. I hadn’t realized how it has quite a bit of an herbal undertone as well, and a strong anise secondary flavor too. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed this on the prior occassion when I had tried it before, but I hadn’t. I have to say, I think that Galliano is very good indeed. Plus I lucked out by stumbling upon a recipe for a drink that I just loved. When I brought the bottle home, I didn’t want to just make another Harvey Wallbanger, so I looked online for what I could make and figured I’d give a Galliano Margarita a shot. What the hell, eh? It was around 95 degrees out, so perfect, right? Oh my, what a treat! What a good drink! I highly recommend this to everyone.
1 oz tequila
1 oz Galliano
1/2 oz lime juice
Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass. Salt rim.
(As you can tell from the picture, I wasn’t in the mood for a salted rim.)
“Limon Sunrise”
And last but definitely not least, is a drink I looked up also online when I found myself reminiscing about the endless Tequila Sunrises in Jamaica and also re-discovered a bottle of limoncello I’d forgotten we had in our house. This one’s a very fun drink for the summer time. Very refreshing and the orange & lemon combo is very good.
1 oz limoncello
3 oz orange juice
Splash of grenadine
Fill a highball-sized glass with ice, and build the limoncello, followed by the orange juice, and then add the grenadine.
scientistmcgee 