Original Vermouth Recipes: TDN Vermouth

admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:13:22 +0000

Upcoming TDN: DOM – B&B and Benedictine

B&B and Benedictine are classic and elegant ingredients used in a host of cocktails from the Singapore Sling (ok, *some* versions) to the Widow’s Kiss to whatever you decide to make at this Thursday’s TDN. THIS week’s special feature will be a LIVE! broadcast of the goings-on at the Monkey Hut where Craig, Blair, Rick, and special guest star Jeffrey Morgenthaler will be mixing and waxing poetic the whole evening. As always, festivities begin at 7pm EST in the Mixoloseum Bar.

TDN Vermouth Wrap-up

It was going to be tough to follow TDN: Mata Hari what with its awesome live action at the Tabard Inn and mocking of Oklahoma and sinking of such glorious failures of drinks as the Cannibal Curse (1.5oz Batavia Arrack, I rest my case) but TDN Vermouth came close. Vermouth, in many ways, gave birth to the modern cocktail and opened up endless possibilities beyond the simple “spirit, sugar, bitters, and water” make-up of the earliest cocktail form. The Manhattan, Martinez, and, in turn, the Martini, of course, being the primary examples of the explosion that happened after vermouth was introduced and popularized in the U.S. Whether our contributions will reach that same level of global appreciation and ubiquity remains to be seen, but at least it wasn’t for lack of trying:

Winning Drink

If I had no shame I would award it to my own drink, The Right Stuff, because the use of Pisco and how it came together was really sexy. However, the Financial District was a widely-tried and very well-regarded drink submitted by drink-well of LA who needs to get ahold of me to pass along his information to get his prize to him. Congrats, sir¹ .

Financial District

1.75oz Bourbon

.75oz dry vermouth

.25oz coffee liqueur

dash orange bitters

dash peychaud

Stir, strain, and garnish with a lemon twist

Other drinks you should try:

By beautiful wonderful, me.

The Right Stuff

2oz pisco

1oz bianco

.5oz grapefruit juice

.25 simple

.25 curacao (used Grand Marnier)

2dash old fashioned bitters

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Submitted by Paul who warns, sharply, do NOT use McClelland’s Islay single malt for this drink, gabe.

Ex

1.5 oz sweet vermouth

.5 oz cask-strength rye

.5 oz Campari

Stir & strain in glass rinsed with Islay single malt

Offered up by Rick who will claim it’s the greatest drink ever made, and is dead wrong. But it is awfully damned good.

Jaynestown

2oz Firefly sweet tea vodka

1oz Dolin blanc

2 dashes lemon bitters

Stir and strain over ice

One of my favorites of the night, and a very classically-styled drink submitted by Jake Parrott.

R.W. APPLE’S ORCHARD

1.5 oz apple brandy

1.5 oz Dolin blanc²

dash peach bitters

dash Decanter bitters³

Stir/strain and garnish with a lemon twist

Offered, presumably with affection, by Rick and Craig.

Tiki Antica

1.5oz Carpano Antica

1oz Appleton Extra

.5oz dark Jamaican rum (used Coruba)

1oz Licor 43

.5oz lime

.25oz falernum

float 1oz ginger beer and .5oz Blackstrap Rum

Kick Rick and Craig’s collective asses with a swizzle stick for throwing in the kitchen sink where it’s not likely needed, and then make think and probably enjoy it.

Submitted by John, a surprisingly good drink that I would cut back on the orgeat with if made again.

Well Stocked Bar

2oz gin

1oz lillet

.5oz cynar

.5oz dry vermouth

.75oz orgeat

1oz lime

1 egg white

2 oz soda

Shake, strain, top w/ soda

As always, the whole shameful debacle can be perused, mocked, and set aflame at your leisure.

NOTE: In the future, TDN judging will be handled in a new and exciting way. YOU can be part of selecting the winning cocktail each week. The host(s) will select a group of 4-5 cocktails they feel are worthy of consideration and post them on Friday in a poll on the Mixoloseum blog. Then, over the next few days, try the drinks and vote on your favorite and it will be declared in Tuesday’s wrap-up. Viva la Democracy!!

Original Vermouth Recipes: TDN Vermouth is a post from: cocktailnerd

or ma’am, you never can be sure
I used Cinzano Bianco
I used Fee’s Old Fashioned

Last night's dogbite: Corpse Reviver #2

Gabriel — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:26:33 +0000

This is simply one of my favorite cocktails. The ‘Corpse Reviver’ set of drinks actually belongs to a class or family of cocktails used, particularly in the morning, as ‘pick me ups’ (think Bloody Mary), presumably from a night of many other non-pick-me-up cocktails. I can think of no better way to start my day than with one of these fine drinks no more than I can actually imagine doing so. For example, the ‘Savoy Corpse Reviver’ was a brandy-based cocktail with equal parts brandy, fernet branca, and white creme de menthe. While I haven’t tried it, I can almost guarantee it won’t satisfy as well as ‘#2′.

This is a drink that, like the Aviation, is a great introduction to how gin can be used to wonderful effect for the ‘But I don’t like gin!’ crowd, is a fantastic example of how the true cocktail craft can create something far greater than the sum of its parts, and exemplifies just how damned much we’re missing in the insipid and limp cocktails served in most bars and restaurants today.

I’ve found only a couple of variations on this drink and I greatly prefer one over the other:

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver. 1¹

3/4 oz gin

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz Cointreau

3/4 oz Lillet (blanc)

dash Pastis (Pernod, Herbsaint, or Absente to substitute)

Place all ingredients into a mixing glass, shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a destemmed maraschino cherry (optional).

You are met first with a slightly tart but herbal scent from the drink and, upon the first sip, find a distinct sweetness to it that is tempered with a dry and clean finish. And, occasionally, especially when holding the sip in your mouth, you catch drifts of the anise come through the drink in a very gentle way. If I’m writing in a precious manner regarding this drink it’s because I can’t help myself, it just lends itself so well to an overwrought description. It’s not as deep or complex as ‘The Last Word’ cocktail but it serves its purpose exceptionally well and, again, demonstrates how close to alchemy this blending of ingredients to create a greater whole can be. One last note on this version, you can use traditional Triple Sec but I wouldn’t recommend it; if at all possible use the Cointreau as it seems to sit down and behave in the drink a bit better.

Now for the next trick:

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver. 2²

1 oz gin

1/2 oz Lillet (blanc)

1/2 oz Cointreau

1/2 oz Pernod (or other anise-flavored liqueur)

3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This is a great exercise in seeing how you can invite all the same dance partners to a dance and get a completely different result; version 1 is Foxtrot, version 2 is Quickstep – both are ballroom but only one of them is for me. The greater emphasis on the gin and lemon juice (proportionally) causes the elegance of the Lillet and the sweetness of the Cointreau to get covered up and lost. The far greater volume of Pastis (I tend to use Absente for its stouter and drier character) changes the overall tone of the drink significantly, and for my money, tramples over a good thing. Stick with the first one (but try both) and you’ll have a wonderful example of how slight modifications in drinks make a world of difference.

A great name, a great balance of flavor in ver. 1, and as Harry Craddock notes in ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’, “Four of these taken in straight succession will unrevive the corpse again.” So, be careful, and enjoy.

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver 1 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver 2 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Last night's dogbite: Corpse Reviver #2 is a post from: cocktailnerd