December 15, 2023

What I’m Drinking: The Frank Morgan

Frank Morgan was a character actor whose career started in the silents and then moved into the talkies. He’s perhaps most well-known as the Wizard (and corresponding characters) in the original Wizard of Oz, but had a full movie (and radio!) career, lots of roles, lots of parts. All of this Wikipedia will happily tell you. What it won’t tell you is that he also gave his name to this here cocktail, which combines rich dark rum (we’re going Bacardi Gran Reserva Especial) with nutty sherry (Williams & Humbert Dry Sack Medium sherry to be precise), and Angostura bitters. Okay, it’s not a completely agreed upon fact (though we are in the post-fact age, right? Right) that this drink is named for him, but I found it in Crosby Gaige’s Standard Cocktail Guide, 1944 edition, and as Mr. Gaige was a theatrical New Yorker, I think we can take it on fact that this is indeed named for Frank Morgan the actor. Also, since I am probably the only person to have made this cocktail (which is, by the way, a very good, balanced drink, that lets the rum shine heartily, while adding just enough herbal and nutty notes around the edges to elevate) since the middle of last century, I believe I can make the call. And also that I can add an orange twist to the original recipe without having to suffer Mr. Gaige’s disdain from the afterlife. If you have one, it’ll help, naturally. So, whatcha waiting for?

The Frank Morgan cocktail

The Frank Morgan

2-1/4 ounces Bacardi Gran Reserva Especial dark rum

3/4 ounces Williams & Humbert Dry Sack Medium sherry

Dash Angostura bitters

Thin orange twist, for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add all but the twist. Stir well.

2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the twist. Sip. We’re off to the see the Wizard . . .

Share '' on Delicious Share '' on Digg Share '' on Facebook Share '' on Google+ Share '' on LinkedIn Share '' on Pinterest Share '' on reddit Share '' on StumbleUpon Share '' on Twitter Share '' on Add to Bookmarks Share '' on Email Share '' on Print Friendly
February 24, 2023

What I’m Drinking: Limbo

Every limbo boy and girl, all around the limbo world, gonna do the limbo rock, all around the limbo cocktail. That’s the song (Harry B will forgive me for slightly changing the lyrics, I hope) that one must sing when consuming this tropical-y cocktail, one which I hadn’t had in a long, long, long time, but which as I’m dreaming of travel and leaving the late winter mundanity behind, seemed ideal for today. It’s a fairly simple mix: big helping of rum to help with the dancing, papaya for beachyness, coconut milk to smooth things out and help with blending. Oh, and ice, as this is a blended number. Which also means it’s scaled for two, cause all blended drinks (which maybe get a bad overall rap in our modern snooty cocktail world, but which can be lots of fun yo) should be made for at least two, if not more. One note here: it could be my older sweet-tooth development, but maybe, just maybe, a spoon or two of Coco Lopez (a bit sweeter and thicker than coconut milk), or a splash or two of simple syrup, can be nice here. Give it a whirl. Or a blend! You’ll be singing, and sipping, Limbo lower now, Limbo lower now, how low can you go, soon!

limbo

Limbo

2 cups cracked ice

4 ounces dark rum

1 cup peeled and cubed papaya

1 cup coconut milk

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend well.

2. Pour into two large, peppy goblets and serve to two folks who know how to limbo. And sing.

February 3, 2023

What I’m Drinking: The Crimson Slippers

I love this drink – love it! And, as it’s the lover’s month, so to speak, felt I should kick things off with a drink I love. And this is it! Funny enough, was thinking about it recently over the past holiday season, when making it for some holiday pals. See, I always couched it in a sorta murder mystery persona (if cocktails have personas, which I believe they do), the drop of crimson blood on the slippers giving Miss Marple the needed clue (or whomever detective you desire, I’m feeling Marple-y) to solve the mystery. But, during this holiday season and discussion, a thought popped into my addled mind – wouldn’t Santa have slippers the color of crimson? Maybe? Maybe! So, that meant this could be a holiday drink, too. Either way, I love it. You will do. No matter what holiday you’re sipping it on.

crimson-slippers

The Crimson Slippers, from Dark Spirits

 

Ice cubes

2 ounces dark rum

1 ounce Campari

1/2 ounce triple sec

Dash of Peychaud’s bitters

Lime slice for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, Campari, triple sec, and bitters. Shake well.

2. Strain into a cocktail glass.

3. Squeeze the lime slice over the glass and drop it in.

December 23, 2022

What I’m Drinking: Fish House Punch

There are holiday traditions, there are wonderful holiday traditions, and then there’s having the legendary Fish House Punch at the end of each year (or the beginning) – that’s a tradition nearly above all others, at least in the U.S., where this venerable punch has been punched up and sipped for hundreds of years, starting way back in the year 1732 (according to yore – I wasn’t actually there, though I am rather old) at Philadelphia’s Schuylkill fishing club, where I am sure (because sometimes the world is actually okay – meaning, I am not really sure, as I wasn’t there, but feel sure anyway, and want it to be true) folks sipped it by the bucketfuls around this time of year, much like I am now in the habit of doing, thanks to pals Eve and Curtis, who are annual Fish-House-Punch makers and distributors, and so I raise a glass in cheers to them, and to those who consumed this mix in the past, and to you, naturally, and to this sentence, which much like this year is now finally ending.

fish-house-punch

Fish House Punch, Serve 10

 

Block of ice (or cracked ice)

1 750-milliliter bottle dark rum

15 ounces cognac

7-1/2 ounces peach brandy

7-1/2 ounces freshly-squeezed lemon juice

7-1/2 ounces Simple Syrup

 

1. Add the ice to a punch bowl (fill about three quarters full if using cracked ice.) Add the rum, cognac, brandy, juice, and syrup. Stir 10 times, while humming holiday tunes.

 2. Stir 10 more times. Serve in punch cups or wine glasses or what have you.

December 2, 2022

What I’m Drinking: Champagne Punch

holidaysSometimes it’s good to go back to the basics. This here (or, below here) is my recipe for Champagne Punch, the one I picked up from family holiday gatherings when I was a wee one, the one I was making for parties long before even this blog started (so, dinosaurs were walking the earth), and long before I put the recipe in Good Spirits (and probably others books and articles), and long before I started typing this sentence (which is itself rather long now, though not as long as some by, say, Henry James). It’s a basic ol’ bubbly fruity rummy punchy number, not all la-de-da, but very solid, very tasty, and very much a sparkling treat that’s wonderful around the holiday season – which, low and behold, we are now in, or nearly in if you don’t want to jump the gun. A stance I understand, but good to be prepared pals! So, have the basic recipe below in your back pocket – it’s sure to be a hit at your holiday gatherings, which I’m sure will be anything but basic.

 

Champagne Punch

 

Serves 10

 

Ice (in block form if possible; if not, large chunks)

6 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice

4 ounces simple syrup

2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice

2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 ounces white rum

6 ounces dark rum

Once 750-milliliter bottle chilled Champagne

Orange, lime, and lemon slices, for garnish

 

1. Add the ice to a large punch bowl. If using chunks (as opposed to a large block of ice), fill the bowl just under halfway.

2. Add the orange juice, simple syrup, lime juice, and lemon juice. With a large spoon or ladle, stir 10 times.

3. Add the white and dark rums. Stir 10 more times.

4. Add Champagne, but not too quickly. Enjoy the moment. Add a goodly amount of orange, lime, and lemon slices. Stir, but only once.

5. Ladle into punch glasses or festive goblets. Try to ensure that every guest gets a slice of fruit and a smile.

January 7, 2022

What I’m Drinking: Three Wishes

three-wishesLook, look, lookieeee! A new year has started. Which is good, cause, between us, last year, well (excuse my expressioning expression), sucked. Really! Not that there weren’t good and tasty and cuddly moments, I hope, for all, but it wasn’t the finest year IMHO (as they say). So, here’s hoping this here year will be better, and to help it on its way, I’m going to drink this lovely drink, called Three Wishes, after its three tasty ingredients: dark rum (I’m going with Diplomatico Reserva, which is so delicious), Rhum Clément Creole Shrubb (a beauteous blend of rums, bitter orange, and sweet), and amaretto (for me, wishing usually has an Italian component – I’m using Lazaroni). How will me drinking this help? Well, lesser-know fact: when you drink this, you can actually make wishes, and all mine will be for a lovely 2022 for us all. Yeah, I’m that way, but the good part is, you can have one of these and also wish for the same!

 

Three Wishes, from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz

 

Cracked ice

2 ounces Diplomatico Reserva dark rum

1 ounce Rhum Clément Creole Shrubb

1 ounce Lazaroni amaretto

 

1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the rum, Creole Shrubb, and amaretto. Stir well.

 

2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Make good wishes.

October 22, 2021

What I’m Drinking: The Whip of the Conqueror

I have a deep fondness (I know, this is, oh, a little patting-yourself-on-the-back-y) for some of the headnotes (the intro paragraph/graphs before the recipe, though you probably knew that) in Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz. Including the one for this drink, which is short, but still I hope fun, and introduces the players and such. So much so that I’m going to just do the ol’ cut-and-pasting of said intro right here:

Featuring the bracing and bountiful bam! of Italian digestivo Fernet-Branca over a layer of rumbling dark rum and a lovely lash of apricot liqueur and a tiny tang of lime, the Whip should be unveiled only when attempting world conquest (in the board game Risk, that is) or having a marathon video game session when the games are medieval or oriented earlier (such as Prince of Persia, say) or having a double elimination (’cause every player needs a second chance) shuffleboard tournament where the winner triumphs thanks to the singular method of ricocheting the puck off the sidewalls to hang gracefully on the board’s edge—without falling over. A conqueror indeed.

whip-of-the-conqueror

The Whip of the Conqueror, from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz

 

Ice cubes

1 -1/2 ounces dark rum

1 ounce Fernet Branca

1/2 ounce apricot liqueur

1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

Lime twist, for garnish

 

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, Fernet Branca, apricot liqueur, and lime juice. Shake while longing to be the conqueror.

 

2. Strain through a fine strainer into a cocktail glass, and garnish with the twist.

 

September 10, 2021

What I’m Drinking: The Painkiller

A little lesser-known than some of it’s more famous tropical tiki siblings, the rummy Painkiller is an early-summer, mid-summer, and late-summer treat (though honestly, why not bring summer into any day by having this year round? I can’t conjure up a single reason). I once wrote “old pirates say this was first mixed using Pusser’s rum by Daphne Henderson (owner and bartender) at the six-seat Soggy Dollar Bar at White Bay, British Virgin Islands in the 1970s” and still believe that to be the historical case. I used to love the Painkiller at Seattle’s much-missed No Bones Beach Club (you can see me on Seattle’s King 5 talking about it and other Seattle tiki treats if so inspired), and currently love the one at the bubbly Baker’s up this way, but I also like to sail my own ship once in a while, high winds be damned, and you should tack the same direction. Because the Painkiller isn’t tough to make, and will leave you singing sea shanties in a superior manner – which is how every day should end, right? If you’ve never had a Painkiller, it’s a near cousin to the Pina Colada (if only Rupert Holmes would have sung about a Painkiller, we might be having a different conversation), meaning it’s coconutty, creamy, fruity, strong, and lush, with a dark rum base. Historically (see: above) it should be Pusser’s rum, but I am currently, sadly, Pusser’s deficient, and so went with Ron Abuelo 12-year old dark rum and it was yummy. Sometimes to relieve the pain you have to do what you have to do! So, get tropical y’all.

painkiller

The Painkiller

 

Ice cubes

2 ounces Ron Abuelo 12-year old dark rum (or Pusser’s, if you got it)

4 ounces pineapple juice

1 ounce orange juice

1 ounce cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)

Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Crushed or cracked ice

 

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, juices, and cream of coconut. Shake really well.

 

2. Fill a highball glass or comparable glass three-quarters up with cracked or crushed ice. If you happen to have a Lewis bag (and I hope you do!), now’s a good time to use it!

 

3. Strain the drink into the glass. Garnish with fresh nutmeg. You could also garnish with an orange slice and a cherry (both or one or the other, you might see). I wasn’t feeling the fruit salad, so left them off, this time!

 

Rathbun on Film