Some days, I want to drink a drink with banana in it (rare days, but sure). Some days, I also want to wear a bowler hat, walk around the house saying “pip, pip” and talking in perhaps the worst English accent of all time. Some days, I also like to have a bit of gin. Some days, I’ve been known to don spats. Some days, I’ll read Agatha Christie until my eyes get tired. Some days, I do every single one of the aforementioned things at the same time. On those days, I’ve probably had more than one Silver Jubilee (using this recipe from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz).
Silver Jubilee
Ice cubes
2 ounces gin
1 ounce crème de banana
1/2 ounce heavy cream
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, crème de banana, and heavy cream. Shake well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. If you’re having one of those days, garnish with a piece of dark chocolate and a thick banana round.
Sometimes, you can’t improve on genius. You can try, sure, but, well, you’ll fail. Which is why instead of writing some new post about the Trocadero, I’m just going to quote myself, from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz:
We think often of dry and sweet vermouth of being like Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier fighting it relentlessly in Zaire, or like two large dogs gnawing on one big bone in the backyard (the bone here would equal a bar, if you don’t mind following a thinly stretched metaphor). This train of thought though, is out of wack. We should think of the vermouths more like A.J. and Rick Simon, brother detectives who are very different in style, dress, and tone of voice, but working together to solve a crime (the crime here is, as you might guess, the crime of a bad drink).
The Trocadero
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1-1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
1/4 ounce grenadine (I suggest making your own – there’s a recipe in the book by the by)
Lemon twist for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the vermouths at the same time to show no favoritism, and then the bitters and the grenadine. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.
PS: Sure, I just called my own writing genius. But I was being silly, silly.
It’s time for the next episode of the almighty Cocktail to Cocktail Hour, and it’s a humdinger! It features another Everyday Drinking segment, where I solve the drinking problem of someone off the street. But this time, it’s not just any ol’ someone off the street, it’s Paul Stanley* from the greatest rock-and-roll band in the land, KISS. That’s right, the Starchild himself had a bit of a drinking query and he came straight to the Cocktail to Cocktail Hour (like all good people). It’s a heck of show, folks, with singing, grinning, and a beautiful drink for Paul called the Luminous Angel, containing Cognac, Elisir M.P. Roux liqueur, orange juice, and Seattle-made Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters!
*May not actually be Paul Stanley in video; may be a genius Paul Stanley impersonator. Please don’t sue us Mr. Stanley. We only did it cause we love you.
In late January, many of us are starting to dream about June. We’ve had just long enough of the cold weather that we crave the warm weather – and heck, many travel to find a summerlike setting right about now. But, many others can’t take the time to take the trip. This drink is for those folks (hmm, I may just be one of those folks), and the recipe’s from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz.
The Temporary Getaway
3 apple slices
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ice cubes
1 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur
4 ounces chilled brut Sekt or other sparkling wine
1. Place 2 of the apple slices, the orange juice, and the lemon juice in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass. Using a muddler or wooden spoon, muddle well.
2. Fill the cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the St-Germain and, using a long spoon, stir well.
3. Pour the chilled Sekt into the cocktail shaker. Using that same reliable spoon, stir briefly, being sure to bring up the fruit on the bottom when stirring.
4. Strain into a flute glass or cocktail glass (in this instance I like the way the latter breathes, but a flute’s more traditional). Garnish with the remaining apple slice, putting a little notch in it if needed for rim balancing.
There’s another drink also called The Blue Train (as happens, cause people are creating drinks all the time. Like ten were created as I typed “ten”), or the Blue Train Special, which shakes together 1-1/2 ounces brandy and 1 ounce fresh pineapple juice over ice, and then tops it with Cap Classique or other sparkling wine and a pineapple chunk in a flute glass. This is not that Blue Train. The Blue Train is in Wine Cocktails. This one is in Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz. Both drinks are awesome. This just happens to be the one I’m drinking today. But tomorrow? Who knows?
The Blue Train
Ice cubes
1 ounce gin
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 ounce crème de violette
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, Cointreau, lemon juice, and crème de violette. Shake briefly.
Poor amaretto. So many folks these days consider it a boozy beverage drunk by college students during the hours when they (and when I, back then, between us) have more drinks than brains. But listen up: this isn’t the case. The dandy-est amaretto is something that Italians savor and so should you. It’s a treat, if you don’t mind finding brands like Gozio, Luxardo, and Disaronno, amarettos that have been made with a sense of taste and care and ingredients that are real and not chemistry experiments. The end result should be a deep almond flavor (which comes from apricot or peach pits, usually) and not overly sugary.
And while we’re dolling out pity party invites: poor summer. It’s far out the rear window now, and you’ve probably forgotten all about those days of sun and cut-offs (though a nice fall sunny day is savorable much like the good amarettos mentioned above). This drink will remind you, for a few sips at least, of those shore-bound summer day and help re-introduce amaretto as needed. The recipe’s from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, if you wondered.
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce amaretto
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
Wide orange twist, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the rum, amaretto, and vermouth. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the twist over the glass and drop it in.
A Note: I like a pretty wide twist here, so don’t fear following the same route.
Oh golly, I love this drink. My love reaches such a magnitude that I made a Baltimore Bracer cocktail video already, but I still wanted to post the drink again. It’s just the ideal combination of tough name, sweet-in-a-good-way-meaning-with-a-kick taste, and amazing mouthfeel thanks to the egg white. I’m not even saying any more (except that the recipe’s from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz). Just have the drink already. Or you’ll be sorry.*
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces brandy
1-1/2 ounces anisette
1 egg white, preferably organic
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with cracked ice. Add the brandy, anisette, and egg white. Shake well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass.
*Not sorry cause I’m going to get all Bruce Campbell on you or anything. I’m not really that tough. Just sorry cause you’ll be missing a dandy drink.
Sometimes, a picture tells a perfect story. Example A, sent to me by my pal Kristine (who is a jewelry maker, NYC charmer, and also a survivor of years spent in Kansas), is below. Violet Fizzes (with recipe from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, dontcha know, and made with the wonderful Rothman & Winter Crème De Violette) served up in their lovely effervescence-ness on Easter. I don’t even need to know any more to know that her Easter was amazing. And that I’m jealous I wasn’t there to share a few drinks and eats with her. But at least she sent me this fab photo:
