Spirited Cocktails

I’m a Philly native. I live in New York City now, but I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and the Cheese Whiz of Philly cheesesteaks runs in my veins (probably more literally than I’d care to know.) That’s one of the main reasons the Clover Club Cocktail caught my eye. When flipping through Dale DeGroff’s latest book, The Essential Cocktail, I noticed that the Clover Club (which is a pre-Prohibition cocktail), was invented in Philadelphia at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Dale tells us that the hotel was home to the Clover Club – a social club akin to the Friars Club here in New York. What also caught my eye was a potential variation in the traditional recipe suggested by Dale, in which he uses fresh raspberries. Yum! Read More

I’m always a little bit hesitant to pick up a new spirit when I can only think of one cocktail in which I might use it. Gin, bourbon, rye, and rum are all staples, and I have no doubt that I ill make good use of them (to put it mildly) regardless of cost. However, I wasn’t so sure when I came across a bottle of Pisco at my favorite liquor store recently. I was certainly familiar its namesake cocktail, the Pisco Sour, but was that enough to justify the purchase?

Yes. Yes it was. Read More

A little while back, I told you about my trip to Eleven Madison Park and my decision to go with my Bartender’s Choice. That evening, my bartender selected a cocktail for me off the Eleven Madison Park cocktail menu called the Silhouette. I’m so glad I let him choose!

The Silhouette is a Rye-based cocktail, but it has a very light profile compared to straight Rye thanks to the addition of sweet vermouth (Vermouth de Chambery Rouge at EMP) and Aperol, an orange-flavored liquor. That lighter profile makes this cocktail a great place to start for those who aren’t traditionally Rye drinkers, but would like to be (you know you want to!) Read More

Last week, in a fit of oppositional defiance against the Mint Julep, I introduced you to the Apple Julep. I should first explain that my opposition to the mint julep was based only upon the over-abundance of coverage of the drink in advance of the Kentucky Derby. I’m a huge fan of the cocktail myself, and highly encourage you to give it a try. Have a look at Lush Life’s coverage of this classic with Dale DeGroff, and perhaps we’ll cover the drink ourselves during non-derby season (again, just to be defiant).

In any case, after posting about our alternative, one of our friends via Twitter – Pia Mara Finkel (whom you can and should follow at @piamara) – suggested a possible alteration. Her suggestion was to try the cocktail with Calvados – a French apple brandy – as opposed to the Applejack we used. This was, of course, a wonderful suggestion.

The history of Calvados is rich indeed. We won’t bore you with the details here, but you can read more on Wikipedia, or in the book Calvados: The World’s Premier Apple Brandy by Henrik Mattsson. Read More

I had the opportunity yesterday to sample Maker’s Mark (premade) Mint Julep at Astor Wines & Spirits (@astorwines). I must admit, I didn’t expect much. If nothing else, the making of a Mint Julep is a time-honored tradition, and the idea of purchasing a Mint Julep in a bottle wasn’t particularly appealing to me. I must admit though, after tasting it, I was pleasantly surprised!

It was definitely on the sweeter side as mint juleps go, but if you’re having a Derby party this year and the idea of hand-crafting mint juleps by the dozen just doesn’t appeal, I think this would be a fine substitution (and if you make a good show of it, most people will never know!) Read More

A good chef should be discriminating about their ingredients. And they should taste everything.

Last night I got home rather late, and I was running low on the essential cocktail ingredients (simple syrup, lemons and limes, etc.), so I decided to keep things simple and appreciate the fundamentals. I poured myself a bourbon on the rocks. I found I was fortunate to have a variety of bourbons to chose from (Makers Mark, Woodford Reserve, Hudson Baby Bourbon, Bookers, Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve, and others), but yesterday I decided to open a bottle of Basil Hayden’s, which I had received as a holiday gift from a loving family member. Read More