The Bourbon Renewal was created by bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common. “It’s been a staple of mine for nearly fifteen years, and was one of the first drinks I ever created.” I came across it on a website iterating a list of modern drinks that deserved to be classics. Who could resist? A…
Le Kir
The Kir is an old French cocktail that dates back to the mid nineteenth century. Originally called a cassis-blanc, reflecting its ingredients, it earned its new name in the aftermath of World War Two. This cocktail is supposed to be made with a mild Burgundy-region white (a Chablis is called for in many recipes), and…
Get Lucky
One of my favourite songs from the last few years is the cheeky and eminently danceable “Get Lucky” (despite that B insists it’s about someone after a dog … yeah, something like that). Discovering this week’s cocktail, the Get Lucky, seemed like a good omen. This cocktail is a modern mix that I found in…
Red Moon Over Manhattan
Also known as a Red Moon Rising, this modern cocktail is a thoughtful twist on—no surprise here—the Manhattan. Since many of our cocktails last year called for bourbon, we had the pleasure of cracking open a new bottle and tiptoeing into new bourbon territory. Alas, none of us really noticed a difference. But the bottle…
Long Island Ice Tea
A relatively new classic cocktail, the name is derived from the colour that the cola gives the drink and the sweet taste reminiscent of its namesake. A Long Island Iced Tea has a well know origin as it was first invented by Robert “rosebud” Butt in 1972. He came up with the drink for a contest…
Black & White Russian
The Black Russian dates back to 1949. The cocktail owes its name to the use of vodka, the prototypical Russian spirit, and the blackness of the coffee liqueur. The addition of cream in the mid 60s resulted in the White Russian. Both were once cocktail hour standards although they eventually faded in popularity. The White Russian…
Mandarin Rum Cocktail
In honour of Chinese New Year, we decided to turn our bowl of lucky mandarins into a pitcher of lucky cocktails. Excellent! But what to make? Well, after paging through endless recipes for mandarin mojitos and vodka-and-orange-juice-type drinks, I stumbled across a bunch that called, specifically, for Nicaraguan rum. We settled on Flor de Caña,…
Gagliardo
We bought some rose water a few weeks ago and have been meaning to try it in a drink. After researching several cocktails featuring rose water, I came up with the gagliardo. In Italian, gagliardo means strong or robust, and I wondered what that would imply for this drink, apart from its three-ounce punch. Or…
The Martini
“Shaken not stirred…” However offensive to the martini purists, this has to be one of the most evocative references in history to a cocktail. (For the uninitiated, martini’s are stirred—generally only cocktails needing texture and aeration [things with egg yolk, juices, cream etc.] are shaken.) And since my only familiarity with this most classic of classic…
The Cosmopolitan – Version 2
Thanks to a little show that premiered in 1998, the Cosmo is one of the most popular cocktails of the last 20 years. What’s that? It couldn’t possibly have been t-w-e-n-t-y y-e-a-r-s since that show launched? No worries. I’ll just wait here while you check that math with my good friend, gravity… Hey, welcome back!…