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B&B Speakeasy Classic Cocktails

Gents,

We're working on yet another exciting little project here in the Speakeasy. To accompany our already-popular B&B Cookbook and the Spirit of the Month, we're putting together a bartender's book to highlight all of the classic cocktails we refined tipplers favor. :biggrin:

This thread will serve as the main index, and all members are invited to contribute their own recipes and/or pictorial guides.

B&B Classic Cocktails - A Bar Handbook


 
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I'll give it a go:

Extra Dry Martini:

Before we get started, one note of caution--

Make sure your gin is at room temperature before you make your martini. Vermouth is best stored in the refrigerator, but please refrain from keeping either in the freezer. Many use this as a short cut to getting the coldest martini possible, but by freezing your gin you lose one of the most essential ingredients to the perfect martini -- water. The small amount of ice that melts when stirring makes for a smoother drink, and as an Extra Dry Martini is pretty close to straight gin, this added smoothness is important.

The ingredients are simple enough:

3 oz Preferred Gin (Boodle's for me)
3/4 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat for now, haven't found a replacement)
1 Vermouth soaked olive

I use lightly crushed ice. This seems to work best for me. Cubes have too much surface area for efficient melting and fully crushed ice melts too much.

Pour 3/4 oz Dry Vermouth into shaker and shake vigorously. 10 seconds seems to do the trick for me. This is an EXTRA DRY martini so the next thing to do is a quick strain into the sink. Two or three quick shakes should do it. Since you've only used 3/4 oz you won't be wasting too much vermouth. Most of it is still in the shaker after straining -- it's just clinging to the ice. If you don't like the idea of wasting liquor, I guess you could strain into a cup and drink it straight. I'd imagine that will get you some odd looks if you're serving guests.

Next, add 3 oz of gin to shaker and stir until you feel the outside of the shaker start to freeze. I usually stir by holding the shaker and doing a swirling motion, but you can use a stir stick as well. Pour contents into a frozen cocktail glass, garnish with an olive, and voila -- an Extra Dry Martini.

EDIT: There are two aesthetic details to look for in the martini. First, your stirring should be gentle enough that you don't bruise the gin. The final product should be as a clear as water. Second, if you've used a frozen glass as recommended and stirred to the appropriate temperature, there should be a barely visible film of ice on the top of the drink. Strictly classy!

There are as many variations on the martini as there martini drinkers. This is just one way, and in my opinion, the Extra Dry is less of a true cocktail and more of a method for serving gin. The water from the melted ice smoothes out the gin, the vermouth adds a subtle background note, and the gin comes out the end ice cold and truly refreshing.

Enjoy!
 
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My favorite for at home: Scotch on the Rocks

Take ONE whole ice cube. Put it into a glass that is small enough to hold the cube without too much space left around the edges. A demi-tasse espresso cup is the right size for this.

Pour the Scotch into the glass so it just barely covers the cube. This is roughly a 1:1 ratio.

Wait a minute or two for the ice to chill the Scotch, and melt a little bit so the water "opens up" the whiskey.

Sip the mix slowly ... try and time it so that you take the last sip just as the ice completely melts.
 
Let's add a classic the Dude would be proud of: the white russian.

You'll need:

Coffee Liqueur
Vodka
Milk/Cream
Ice
Old Fashioned Glass

Preparation:
Put ice in glass. Pour a shot of vodka and half a shot of coffee liqueur over the ice. Slowly pour in the milk/cream. Stir and enjoy.

Notes:

1. Some people, myself included, like equal parts coffee liqueur and vodka. This is far more likely to be the case if you make your own liqueur. If you can make coffee you can make coffee liqueur that tastes better than the bottled crap.

2. Milk vs cream: Cream is the classic ingredient. It is smooth, creamy, and luxurious. Milk leads to a waterier drink, but one that is far far friendlier to your health. I usually use milk. You can also split the difference and use half and half.


Should I take pics and make a thread?
 
It's going to be warm again soon (haleluiah!), so here's a drink I really enjoy on a hot day when I'm just not in beer mode:

In a tall glass, add ice and as much dark rum as you're going to need (I make mine borderline brutal, usually). Top it off with horchata.

Horchata is rice milk that is sweetened and spiced, usually with cinnamon, vanilla and sugar, +/- other spices. I just use the prepared, supermarket horchata (Kerns, specifically) but if you can either get it from a Mexican market or make your own, that's good. Note: you'll want the plain cinnamon kind, not the strawberry or chocolate you sometimes find...but then to each his own.

I've seen my wife make these in a blender, which I suppose would cool you down nicely.

I didn't invent it, but I kind of discovered it on my own. I've heard this called a "rice rocket" or spiked horchata, but I don't have a name for it.
 
Under the "sweet stuff" you need Trader Vic's Mai Tai

Mai Tai
1 lime
1/2 oz. orange Curacao (not triple sec, I use Bols)
1/4 oz. rock candy syrup (simple syrup 1:1)
1/2 oz. orgeat syrup (I use Torani - no HFCS)
2 oz. rum* (1 oz. dark Jamaican such as Meyers or Coruba, 1 oz. Appleton Estate V/X)
Cut the lime in half and squeeze, reserving one shell. Combine ingredients in a shaker half filled with cracked ice. Shake and pour into a double old fashioned glass (or vintage Trader Vic Mai Tai glass) Serve with mint and a fruit stick.

*Note on the rums: According to Trader Vic, the original Mai Tai was made with J. Wray 17y old Jamaican Rum (no longer available). While I believe that using a 17y old rum is unnecessary for this drink, I do think that using Jamaican rums helps with the authenticity. In his book, he recommends 1 oz. Dark Jamaican rum and 1 oz. Martinique rum. I've heard that if you order a Mai Tai "made the old way" in a Trader Vic's today, it is made with Coruba and Lemon Hart Demerara (Guyana) rum.
 
Representing the South, the Mint Julep.

In a 12-16oz glass:

1 table spoon of fine white sugar
2 and 1/2 table spoons of water (tap is ok, filtered is best)

Add 3-4 springs of mint in the glass. Using a muddler, muddle the mint leaves in the sugar, it should make a nice paste.

Add 3oz of Cognac Brandy (I prefer using whiskey, but that's just the real southern boy in me)
Fill the cup with shaved ice.
Sprinkle some fine sugar on top, garnish with mint leaves.

A Captain Marryatt put it, "They are, in fact, like American ladies, irresistible."

You guys out to checkout some of the offerings at http://www.cocktailkingdom.com/, they sell authentic replications of old 1800s bar manuals. I got one for Christmas this year, I'll see if I can scan in some of the illustrations, they are great.
 
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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.
 
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Here's a drink I stumbled upon one night and really enjoyed. Its really simple but no bartender I've come across has heard of it... so spread the word!

The Italian Stallion Martini
(It should be noted that I am not Italian, I don't have enough body hair...)

3 oz. Vodka
1/4 oz. Galliano
1/4 oz. Frangelico

-Stir with ice.
-Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

That's it! Enjoy guys!
 
Here is one for you scotch drinkers. It's pretty simple and straight forward. :p

Rusty Nail

Mix
1 1/2 oz Scotch
1/2 oz Drambuie
1 twist lemon peel

You can add an ice cube or two if you like. :)
 
One of my favorites - The Negroni

Equal parts Beefeater Gin, Carpano Anitca Sweet Vermouth, and Campari. Stir for 20 seconds to get very cold, orange twist and serve Up or Over.

I actually prefer a dash of Angostura Orange Bitters as well
 
One I've mentioned before that's quite tasty: the Scotch Bear.

Or, as I like to call it, a "What's Under the Kilt?" :lol:

Simple as could be:

Generous shot of Scotch
Equally generous shot of Barenjager
Rocks glass, with rocks (good ice)

Pour both shots over the ice, stir lightly, enjoy. I drink these a lot during Yule, and find Johnny Walker Red Label much better for them than my usual Black. The Black Label's just too smooth, full-flavored as it is. It gets overwhelmed by the Barenjager, but the Red Label holds its own.

NANP™
 
One of my favorites - The Negroni

Equal parts Beefeater Gin, Carpano Anitca Sweet Vermouth, and Campari. Stir for 20 seconds to get very cold, orange twist and serve Up or Over.

I actually prefer a dash of Angostura Orange Bitters as well

LOVE a Negroni. Cheers, sir!
 
It seems nobody has contributed for a while, so I feel I should add my family’s favorite drink, the Bloody Mary, as my dad taught me to make it:

2 shots vodka (or 4~5 oz)
1 shot Worcestershire sauce (about half the amount of vodka, adding more is fine too if you like it)
Tabasco Sauce (to taste)
Celery Salt (to taste)
1 squeezed lime slice (a lemon works too, but I prefer lime)

Then you fill the rest of the glass with tomato juice (V8 is a good substitute also), mix, top it off with some pepper/celery salt, add a celery stalk, pickle, or olives, and enjoy. My grandmother made one with salt along the rim, and that was pretty tasty.

Horse Radish is great for some extra kick. Personally, I like wasabi (which either needs to be mixed really well or dissolved in the vodka first).
 
nikkuchan, you read my mind. I'm working on a Bloody Mary one. But it's kind of fallen by the wayside for the last couple days.

I have to say though that I personally think V8 is TERRIBLE in a Bloody Mary. Either way, give me a couple days and I'll have a thread up specific for them. :tongue:
 
nikkuchan, you read my mind. I'm working on a Bloody Mary one. But it's kind of fallen by the wayside for the last couple days.

I have to say though that I personally think V8 is TERRIBLE in a Bloody Mary. Either way, give me a couple days and I'll have a thread up specific for them. :tongue:

I wouldn't say terrible, but it definately is not the same. When I'm drunk at a party and nobody wants to go to the store, however, V8 starts to sound ok.
 
Let me first state that this is my first post within the forum. I am James and i work with Beefeater Gin in London. It is a pleasure to have joined up and i hope to have some great conversations on here regarding all things Gin and hopefully gather a few new recipes from you guys. For now let me add our recipe

TOM COLLINS:

50ml Beefeater Dry
25ml Fresh squeezed lemon juice
15ml Sugar syrup
Top up Soda
Method:

Build & stir first 3 ingredients in glass. Stir, add ice and top with soda.
Garnish:

2 lemon slices
Note:

The original drink in the “Collins” category. Created by John Collins bartender at Limmer’ s Hotel London.
 
Let me first state that this is my first post within the forum. I am James and i work with Beefeater Gin in London. It is a pleasure to have joined up and i hope to have some great conversations on here regarding all things Gin and hopefully gather a few new recipes from you guys. For now let me add our recipe

TOM COLLINS:

50ml Beefeater Dry
25ml Fresh squeezed lemon juice
15ml Sugar syrup
Top up Soda
Method:

Build & stir first 3 ingredients in glass. Stir, add ice and top with soda.
Garnish:

2 lemon slices
Note:

The original drink in the “Collins” category. Created by John Collins bartender at Limmer’ s Hotel London.

Hello James. Very good to have you here. It is always a nice resource to have someone on the fourm close the supply so to speak. Tom Collins is a favourie drink of mine in our atrociously hot summers out here in cattle country. Please stop by often.

Regards, Todd
 
The Bourbon and Elder:
2 1/2 oz Old Weller 107 bourbon
1/2 oz D'Arbo Elderflower Syrup
3 oz boiling water
Dash Angostura Bitters
Lemon Twist for garnish
Combine bourbon and elderflower syrup in mixing glass and add water. Stir gently. Pour into heat safe mug and add dash of bitters. Garnish

The Collingwood
2 sprigs Rosemary
1/2 oz 101 proof rye
2 oz Johnnie Red
1/4 oz Drambuie
3/4 oz Nardini Amaro Liquer
3 dash bitters
Place Rosemary in a tumbler with rye. Let it soak for 30 seconds. Tip out rye, light the Rosemary and allow to burn for 45 seconds. Rotate glass to disperse oils. Add Johnnie drambuie and amaro to a mixing glass with ice. Add bitters and stir. Pour into a tumbler overthe roasted Rosemary. Add a cube of ice and stir. Repeat till drink is cool



The Modena
2 1/2 oz Makers Mark
4 dashes 9 year old balsamic vinegar
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
Maraschino cherry
Mix all ingredients as a martini. Serve with cherry garnish


Anyone want my Russian spiced tea one? Any other liqour recommendations?
 
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