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B&B Speakeasy Classic Cocktails

This recipe also works with Vodka, and for a really super dry martini take your room temp dry vermouth and put about 1/2 oz directly into the martini glass swirl around the glass slowly coating the glass and dump the remainder into the sink. Then take you shaken/stirred, vodka/gin and strain into your martini glass. Also if you don't have a cold martini glass on hand, while you are preparing and making your martini just fill a glass with ice and soda or still water to chill it. You should empty the glass before you add the booze. Good Luck!!

Yes it does! I love a nice Grey Goose Martini- extra dry- extra cold- shaken not stirred- olive, onion, olive...had one tonight...perfection!
 
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The Sazerac Cocktail is reputedly America's first real cocktail. Originally made with Cognac, it was an elixir which made fairly heavy use of Peychaud's bitters, which were marketed as a tonic for the stomach.

For those new to Peychaud's bitters, it is a bright red herbal bitters with more sharp flavors than Angostura (which tends to be more rooty) with a distinctive clove character.

A great history of the Sazerac Cocktail is provided here.

I find the standard 1 tsp. sugar recipe a tad too sweet. Also, I find Old Overholt a bit lacking in character, resulting in the same overall impression in a Sazerac cocktail. Based on the results of a rye tasting I did on my blog, my brand of choice for this cocktail is Wild Turkey Rye (101 proof). If you want something around 90 proof, I think that Sazerac Rye edges out Russell's Reserve Rye for use in this drink as I find it a tad more complex but a little less smooth on its own. (Russell's edged out Sazerac on a stand alone basis).

Although absinthe is recommended, so little is used that I find it hard to get too caught up with this aspect of the cocktail. Herbsaint is the traditional rinse as it locally produced in New Orleans. I typically use Granier pastis, our "house brand" (Julie is a big fan of pastis). Finally, there is a lot of controversy as to whether the lemon peel should end up in the finished drink. I like to discard the lemon peel. While it may feel a tad undergarnished, I enjoy the purity of the resulting cocktail, with the aroma and essential oils of the lemon coating the rim and surface of the liquid.

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The Setup (not shown - Hawthorne strainer)

Sazerac Cocktail
2 oz. rye whiskey (Wild Turkey or Sazerac 6y)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp branch water (southern for bottled water)
4-5 dashes Peychaud's bitters
lemon peel
Absinthe, Herbsaint or Pastis

Fill one old-fashioned glass with ice. In a second glass, place sugar and bottled (or otherwise neutral) water and swirl or muddle until dissolved. Fill with ice and add rye. Dump ice from the first glass and pour a tiny amount of absinthe (or substitute) and swirl to coat the glass. Discard excess. Stir the rye and ice mixture and strain into the absinthe-coated glass. Twist lemon peel over the drink's surface and rim the glass. Discard peel.

ah yes! the Sazerac is one of my five.
I enjoy mine with one sugar cube and use Peychaud"s and Angostura bitters to saturate the cube and use Michter's rye or Sazerac rye.
alot of people don't get or like a sazerac especially outside the south but I think the popularity of traditional cocktails is changing that.
 
the classic whiskey sour

some people cringe at the thought of having to drink an egg white, but the
addition adds a certain creaminess that you wont get with a bottle of sweet
and sour mix and whiskey. use a really high quality farm fresh organic egg
just to be safe.

3 ounces whiskey (i use woodford reserve)
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
1 1/2 ounces sugar syrup
1 egg white

shake everything WITHOUT ice first to aerate the egg white properly with the
other ingredients. if you shake with the ice first you won't get a creamy mixture. do this about 20-30 seconds than add ice and shake until frosty.
strain into a double old fashioned glass filled with ice and top with a cherry.
sit back and enjoy life.
i have made this version of whiskey sours for many people who usually don't
indulge in the brown and it is always a hit.
give it a whirl
 
I'm more of a Bourbon man myself, but SWMBO enjoys the White Lady, which we found in an old cocktail book from the 50s. It's like a gin-based Margarita... Good choice if you don't like Tequila.

White Lady
2 parts Gin
1 part Cointreau
1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice
shake over ice
 
Godfather:

Rocks Glass
Ice (1-2" Cube is what I use)

I Fill 1/2 with Johnny Walker Black & the other half with Disaronno.

Swirl & enjoy.
 
I have a few contributions of great cocktails-- I'll divide them by season:
Winter:

Hot Toddy:My Grandmother's recipe for delicious and restorative cocktail
Served in the coffee mug of your choice:
2 Mugs full of water
1 1/2 oz of dark rum
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 lemon wheels
1/8 cup of sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tea bag
OJ

In a small pot, boil the water, and add sugar until dissolved-- add the cinnamon stick, lemon juice, lemon wheels, and tea bag-- allow tea to steep. pour the rum into your mug, pour in some of the lemon/tea mixture and add a splash of OJ to top off-- garnish with the cinnamon stick and a lemon wheel

Summer:
Cuba Libre
2oz Rum (Havana Club, Ron Matusalem)
4oz Coca Cola
2 lime wedges

fill a highball with crushed ice, and add the rum, squeeze 1 lime wedge into the rum and top off with Coke, garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy

Skinny Pirate
2oz Spiced rum (Captain Morgan = Pirate)
4oz Diet Coke (Diet = Skinny)
Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice
Lime wedge

combine Rum and Diet Coke over crushed ice, add a dash of Roses, and garnish with a lime wedge.

John Daly: An Alcoholic version of an Arnold Palmer
4oz Simply Lemonade (find it in the refrigerated juice section at the supermarket)
2oz Sweet Tea Vodka (Firefly is my preference)

Pour Vodka over ice, and add lemonade on top. You can make this as strong as you like, I've gone as high as 1:1 and its still pretty good.
 
My absolute favorite cocktail:

Trinidad Sour

1 oz Angostura bitters
1 oz orgeat
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Rittenhouse rye

Shake hard and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Yes, before you do a double take... That is a full ounce of bitters! Angostura bitters is the BASE liquor in this cocktail. I usually stick with a lot of traditional cocktails such as Manhattans, Martinis, Negronis, etc., but this became my all time favorite after being introduced to it. Orgeat isn't always the easiest ingredient to find, but you can make it at home fairly easily with just almonds, water and sugar.
 
Trinidad sour sounds intriguing. May I ask how you make your own orgeat? Can I find it at a liquor store?
 
Trinidad sour sounds intriguing. May I ask how you make your own orgeat? Can I find it at a liquor store?

You may find it at the liquor store, but a lot of them don't carry it. To make orgeat. You take roughly a cup of unsalted almonds and grind them up (food processor, mortar, etc.) then you add 2 cups of hot water and let it soak for 30 minutes or so to make an "almond tea". Strain out the almonds with a fine strainer or even better, cheesecloth. Then just use this "almond tea" to make a simple syrup 1:1 ratio. You can then add a tablespoon of orange blossom water. This step is probably important if you're going to use the orgeat for a Mai Tai, but is probably unnecessary in the Trinidad Sour as it would be totally overpowered anyway.
 
Here's a family favorite for late night poker games (or other long lasting get-togethers):

Dirty Mutha

1 1/2 parts Tequila (you sometimes see it made with brandy)
1 part Coffee liquor
1 part 1/2 & 1/2

Shake or stir for an easy sipping drink. Bet you can't drink just one.
 
My friends and I know this by another name (group in-joke that wouldn't make much sense), but I'll present it as the following:

Utah Beach
1 part calvados (preferably at least VSOP)
1 part Bärenjäger

Strong and sweet, helps me relax after a long day...
 
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