The Cubano Cocktail
1/2 Gin. (1 oz Bombay Gin)
1/2 vermouth. (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
4 Drops Kummel. (very little Kaiser Kummel)
4 Drops Charbreux. (very little Green Chartreuse)
2 Drops Pineapple Syrup. (even less pineapple juice)
Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass.
Another cocktail mostly verbatim from Judge Jr.’s “Here’s How!”.
The note in “Here’s How!” goes on to say, “Contributed by Owen Hutchinson and it explains why Cuba is a free country.” I’ve really no idea what that means.
This is a very subtle affair. I’ve also no idea if I could even tell it from a “Fifty-Fifty” if it they were both presented to me, other than to say, “this one seems a bit different from the other one.”
Picked some borage blossoms while at the garden today for garnish. Cool, eh? They have a slight cucumber-ish flavor when consumed. Went well with the drink.
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.
Chocolate Cocktail (No. 2)
The Yolk of 1 Fresh Egg
1/4 Yellow Chartruese (1/2 oz Yellow Chartruese)
3/4 Port Wine (1 1/2 oz Warre’s Warrior Port)
Teaspoonful of Crushed Chocolate (heaping teaspoon of Scharffen Berger cocoa powder)
Shake well and strain into medium size glass.
Yes, well, again, I am not sure what might be meant by “crushed chocolate”. I couldn’t imagine how crushing a chocolate bar would result in anything except a mess.
Extra equipment: 2 small bowls, rubber spatula, and a whisk or fork.
Alternative instructions:
Dump a generous teaspoon of unsweetened Cocoa Power into one of your bowls. Add a teaspoon of water and mix until it starts to form a paste. Add a little more water at a time and continue mixing until it reaches the consistency of melted chocolate. Separate the white from the egg and whisk the yolk into the chocolate. Measure the liqueurs into your mixing tin or glass. Pour in the egg and chocolate mixture. Add ice and shake well. Strain into cocktail glass.
While I enjoyed the Chocolate Cocktail (No 1) and I know port and chocolate are supposed to go together, this reminded me of that old reese’s peanut butter cup commercial: “Excuse me, you got Port in my Chocolate. Why, no sir, you got chocolate in my Port.”
Unfortunately, they don’t really seem like, “two great tastes that taste great together,” at least in a cocktail. I dunno, maybe white or tawny port would work better.
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.
Biter Cocktail (6 People)
3 Glasses of Gin (3 oz Tanqueray Gin)
1 1/2 Glasses of Lemon Juice slightly sweetened (1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice)
1 1/2 Glasses of Green Chartreuse ( 1 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse)
Before shaking add a Dash of Absinthe (Verte de Fougerolles)
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
As usual with these 6 person cocktails, I’m using 2 oz per “Glass” and dividing it in half to make two drinks.
Might be my favorite Chartreuse cocktail so far. Perhaps related to the pleasant pale green color and dry, tart flavor. Quite herb-a-licious.
I didn’t really feel a need for extra sweetener, despite the fact that the recipe calls for it. As they say, your mileage may vary.
I do find this same cocktail is sometimes called the “Bitter Cocktail” in some sources. Might be another Savoy typo.
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.
Bijou Cocktail
1/3 Plymouth Gin. (3/4 oz Plymouth Gin)
1 Dash Orange Bitters. (Dash Fee’s Orange Bitters, Dash Regan’s Orange Bitters)
1/3 Green Chartreuse. (3/4 oz Green Chartreuse)
1/3 Gancia Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth)
Mix well with a spoon in a large bar glass; strain into a cocktail glass, add a cherry or an olive, squeeze a piece of lemon peel on top and serve.
The Bijou had been on my list of cocktails to try for a while. It’s always exciting to get to a Savoy cocktail I actually want to make!
Paul Clarke, who is a much more thorough researcher and far better writer than I, recently wrote a blog article about the Bijou:
So I won’t bore you by repeating his conclusions, just check out the article.
I do kind of go back and forth on the ratios for this cocktail. The equal parts version above is pretty sweet and rich. Sometimes I just don’t quite feel like that much Green Chartreuse and Sweet Vermouth, so I’ll up the gin a bit and dial those two back. Changing the recipe to something like an ounce and a half of gin and 1/2 ounce each of Sweet Vermouth and Green Chartreuse can transform this into more of an aperitif rather than digestiv cocktail.
Anyway, whichever way you slice it, the Bijou Cocktail is a true classic.
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.
