Underhill-Lounge

The Golden Gate Cocktail

3/4 Orange Ice. (2 scoops Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbet)
1/4 Gin. (1 oz No. 209 Gin)

Place in shaker and shake ~~ no ice.

Talk about drinking your dessert or adult candy!

Totally the proto slushy margarita here!

Perhaps because my sorbet was a bit cold, it was tough to get the pieces of sorbet to break up just by shaking. Probably get better results by buzzing this with a stick blender or malt mixer.

As a San Franciscan, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed that this kiddy cocktail seems to be named after our most impressive bridge. Still, with a decent sorbet, it’s a tasty and non-painful way to get your “Vitamin G”, as Herb Caen would put it.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Golden Ermine Cocktail

1/8 Italian Vermouth. (1/4 ounce M&R Sweet Vermouth)
3/8 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Beefeater’s Gin)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass.

A perfectly pleasant cocktail. Doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Fourth Degree for me, but an interesting Martini variation all the same. Nice color.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Gloom Chaser Cocktail

1/4 Lemon Juice. (1/2 oz Lemon Juice)
1/4 Grenadine. (1/2 oz Homemade Grenadine)
1/4 Grand Marnier. (1/2 oz Grand Marnier)
1/4 Curacao. (1/2 oz Senior Curacao of Curacao)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Really puzzling. Two kinds of orange liqueur and grenadine? Even more puzzling if you consider Grand Marnier to actually be a type of Curacao liqueur.

Unforuntately, I can find no indication that this recipe is incorrect. I kind of hoped that would be the case. Maybe someone swapped Curacao for Cognac or something.

But no, this ridiculously sweet recipe appears to be correct.

And, yeah, this is ridiculously sweet. The flavors aren’t bad but it turned out to be one of those few Savoy cocktails I couldn’t finish. Just too sweet. Makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it again.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Note: The Savoy nights at Alembic have been on hiatus recently. There have been some rumors of their return. I will post when I know more.

Glad Eye Cocktail

1/3 Peppermint. (3/4 oz DeKuyper White)
2/3 Absinthe. (1 1/2 oz Lucid Absinthe)
(Dash Fee’s Mint Bitters)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

I really was not looking forward to this cocktail. In fact I’ve been putting it off for nearly a week.

However, in some bizarre fit of masochism a local bar, Alembic, has decided to have a monthly event where instead of having a menu, they hand out copies of “The Savoy Cocktail Book” and tell patrons to pick a cocktail, any cocktail.

The first time they did this event I was out of town. Strangely, it was “successful,” in some measure of the term, so they have decided to make it a monthly event.

Stopped by this evening, and told the talented bartenders, yes, I would like a “Glad Eye” thank you. Their response was, you know, I really don’t think that is going to be very good. Well, so it goes. Indeed, it was not very good. Though less bad than I had feared.

Daniel, the bar manager, suggested perhaps putting it in a tube for alcoholic tooth brushers. But, he said, it would have to be a Tom’s of Maine type flavor, not some commercial brand. I suspect it was the aromatics of the Absinthe moving him in that direction.

One of the other bartenders thought she perhaps preferred it to the Stinger. The Glad Eye certainly carries a bit more of a sting than the stinger!

So there you go.

Should you desire an authentic cocktail made from the recipes in the Savoy Cocktail Book, drop by Alembic Bar the 3rd Tuesday of any month. They’ll do their best!

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Gin and Cape Cocktail

1/2 Caperitif. (generous 1 oz Lillet Blanc)
1/2 Dry Gin. (generous 1 oz No. 209 Gin)

Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon (oops! used orange instead.) peel on top.

Again, no real idea what Caperitif may have been like, so substituting Lillet Blanc, as Cocktaildb.com suggests.

A perfectly enjoyable cocktail. A dash or two of bitters would probably perk it up quite a bit.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Gin Cocktail

4 Dashes Orange Bitters. (1 tsp. Amaro CioCiara, dash Regan’s Orange)
1 Glass Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Mystery Gin, 1/2 oz Beefeater’s Gin)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Orange twist.)

I figured with 4 whole dashes of orange bitters here, it might be fun to use the Amer Picon-like CioCiara instead of regular orange bitters.

I found a small mystery bottle of something in my cabinet. Smells like gin. In fact, I suspect it might very well have been a sample of Hayman’s Old-Tom.

In any case, it seemed like it would be interesting in this cocktail, even though it is probably not a “Dry Gin,” and I didn’t have enough to make a whole 2 ounces.

Another cocktail needing a good long stir…

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Cocktails from last night’s party, in case you want to make them yourself at home…

Park Slope:1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey, 3/4 oz Punt e Mes, 3/4 oz Apricot Brandy. Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Cherry.
Northern Spy:1 1/2 oz Apple Brandy, 1 oz Apple Juice, 1/2 oz Lemon Juice, 1/4 oz Apricot Brandy. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Last Word:3/4 oz Dry Gin, 3/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur, 3/4 oz Green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz Lime Juice. Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass.
Final Ward:3/4 oz Rye Whiskey, 3/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur, 3/4 oz Green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz Lemon Juice. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Gin-Gin Mule:3/4 oz Lime Juice, 1 oz Simple Syrup, 6 Sprigs Mint, 1 1/2 oz Dry Gin. Lightly Muddle Mint in Syrup and Lime Juice. Add Gin and ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice. Fill with ginger beer.

The only change I made from the canonical recipes for these cocktails, was to go a bit light on the Simple in the Gin-Gin Mule. I was using Rich Simple in it, so 1 oz seemed a bit much. Oh and don’t tell Audrey, but aside from being Rich Simple, it was a Rosemary Flower Simple Syrup that I used in the Gin Gin Mule. So maybe it should be a “Gin Pine Mule” or something?

Gimlet Cocktail

1/2 Burrough’s Plymouth Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)
1/2 Rose’s Lime Juice Cordial. (3/4 oz Rose’s Lime, 3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice)

Stir, and serve in same glass.

Can be iced if desired.

Yeah, sorry, couldn’t quite hang with 100% Rose’s here.

I have to admit I don’t think I’ve had a gimlet for years. Now that I think about it, maybe ever. Was a favorite drink, however of one of my aunts.

All in all a pleasant cocktail. That Rose’s sure has a weird flavor, though. Tastes like Coconut or something to me. Might have to start making my own, per LibationGoddess’ procedure here.

Or if you’re lucky enough to be in San Francisco, stop by the Slanted Door and ask for a Gimlet. Jennifer Colliau has a house made lime cordial behind the bar there and it is quite spectacular.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Gimblet Cocktail

1/4 Lime Juice. (3/4 oz Lime Juice)
3/4 Dry Gin. (2 1/4 oz Gin)
(Dash Maraschino Liqueur)
(Drop 1/2 lime shell into shaker)

Shake well and strain into medium size glass, (letting some ice go into the glass as you strain); fill up with soda water.

OK, I admit the tartness of this scared me a bit. So I added a bare dash of Maraschino. It would probably be perfectly fine without. The hint of added complexity was nice, though.

I could definitely see enjoying this bracing refresher on a hot, lazy summer afternoon.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Gilroy Cocktail

1/6 Lemon Juice. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Lemon Juice)
1/6 French Vermouth. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1/3 Cherry Brandy. (3/4 oz Cherry Heering)
1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Plymouth Gin)
1 Dash Orange Bitters. (Regan’s)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

I liked this one. Seems like it might be one of those fairly decent cocktails saddled with an unfortunate name.

Sources indicate the Gilroy recipe had been published in one of Harry McElhone’s guides previous to the Savoy.

Surely not named after the town of Gilroy, Garlic capital of the world. Gilroy would have been at most a one horse fly speck on the map in the 1920s.

Though, hmmm… I see one of the first Anglos to settle in San Ysidro, (the Spanish settlement that would become Gilroy,) was a Scotsman named John Gilroy. As another Scotsman, perhaps the story intrigued McElhone enough to name a cocktail after him?

From wikipedia:

The ship departed from Portsmouth, England, made its way around Cape Horn and proceeded up the Pacific coast of the Americas, stopping at Spanish ports for supplies along the way. In January 1814, the Todd arrived at the Presidio of Monterey. During the visit, ordinary seaman John Gilroy (a Scotsman who had changed his name from John Cameron when he went to sea to avoid recognition) either jumped ship or, depending on the historical source, was left ashore to recover from scurvy. In any event he found his way to San Ysidro, converted to Roman Catholicism and became the first non-Spanish settler in Alta California legally recognized by the Spanish crown. More Americans and Europeans entered the region over time, but the area remained under the control of Spain (and after 1821, independent Mexico); Gilroy married the daughter of his employer and eventually became alcalde of the village himself.

When the annexation of California by the United States in 1848 was followed by the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada, the trickle of immigrants from the eastern states became frequent…On March 12, 1870 it was officially incorporated by the state legislature as the town of Gilroy (John Gilroy had died in 1869).

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.