Monte Carlo Imperial Cocktail

1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Broker’s Gin)
1/4 Lemon Juice. (1/2 oz Lemon Juice)
1/4 White Crème de Menthe. (1/2 oz Brizard White Creme de Menthe)

Shake well and strain into medium-size glass and fill up with Champagne (Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rose Perle d’Aurore).

Was explaining to the house guests the nature of the Savoy Stomp, and they were asking about what cocktails were coming up. The Creme de Menthe here certainly caught their attention. “Sounds Horrible!” “How many more cocktails do you have to make?” and similar.

Those of us who tried the Monte Carlo Imperial found it far less awful than you might imagine. Helps, I suppose, that the Brizard Creme de Menthe is not an awful liqueur. General response was, “If someone was offering it to me and nothing better, I wouldn’t turn it down.”

It is, nothing but a French 75 with Creme de Menthe as a sweetener instead of sugar.

The mint makes it a bit girly, but certainly nothing near the “pour down the sink” category. In fact, not at all far from the well regarded Old Cuban.

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.

Mint Cocktail
(6 People)
Soak a few sprigs of fresh mint for two hours in a glass and a half of White Wine (3/4 oz Les Domains Tatins, 2007, Quincy/Domaine du Tremblay). Add half a glass of Crème de Menthe (1/4 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe), 2 Glasses of Gin (1 oz Broker’s Gin) and 1 1/2 glasses of White Wine (3/4 oz Les Domains Tatins, 2007, Quincy/Domaine du Tremblay). Ice and shake (or stir if you prefer) thoroughly. Serve with a sprig of mint tastefully arranged in each glass.

Not sure how tastefully arranged that mint sprig is, but what can you do?

We skipped this one at NOPA, as we hadn’t planned ahead with the mint soaking.

Not exactly sure why I picked this wine, but it does really work in this cocktail. And plus, afterwards, you’re left with most of a delicious (and reasonable) bottle of Loire white. I don’t know about you, but I certainly won’t complain about that.

Initially my tastes sort of rebelled at this cocktail. Tastes like wine… Something…Not…Right… But after a while I settled in to the light minty taste. After I finished the cocktail, I poured some plain wine in my glass, figuring it would be more enjoyable. Nice, sure. And if I had a dozen oysters around, maybe sublime. But I missed the flavor of the cocktail.

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.

Knock Out Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful White Crème de Menthe. (Brizard White Creme de Menthe)
1/3 Absinthe. (3/4 oz Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles)
1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Beefeater Gin)
1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Garnish with a spanked Mint Sprig.)

Well, this is a lot better than the Glad Eye, and maybe demonstrates a bit better than that cocktail the power of the combination of Absinthe and Mint.

Still, the name is pretty apropos…

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.

The Hurricane Cocktail

1/3 Whisky.
1/3 Gin.
1/3 Crème de Menthe.
The Juice of 2 Lemons.

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Another cocktail ripped from the pages of Judge Jr.’s “Here’s How”. And like the Crow Cocktail before it, one which makes no sense as transcribed in the Savoy.

Fortunately, the original recipe is a tad more sensible, not to mention the fact that it is across the page from the similarly natural disaster themed “Earthquake” cocktail.

This concoction is all that the name implies and should be mixed in a cyclone cellar: 1/3 pint Johnny Walker; 1/3 pint of Gordon Water; 1/3 pint of Crème de menthe; the juice of two lemons.

Too bad the Savoy transcribers dropped those “pint” measures, eh? So, it’s a bottled cocktail, with the juice of two lemons up against a pint of spirits and liqueurs.

3/4 oz Famous Grouse.
3/4 oz Broker’s Gin.
3/4 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe.
A little less than 3/4 oz Lemon Juice.

Well, it’s not, strictly speaking, entirely awful. Kind of refreshing, I suppose.

Still, not anywhere near the top 10, or likely, top 100 Savoy Cocktails.

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.

Hell Cocktail
(6 People)

Shake (or stir, what does it matter?) 3 glasses of Cognac (1 1/2 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangnac) and 3 glasses of Green Crème de Menthe (1/2 oz Brizard White Creme de Menthe). Serve with a pinch of red pepper (Cayenne Pepper) on each glass.

Glasses are, of course, 2 ounces. 12 ounces, total, for 6 people, makes it 2 oz per serving.

A half an ounce of Creme de Menthe seemed like plenty to me so I upped the Brandy.

I put it in a liqueur glass, because, frankly, this is a shooter.

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.

Green Dragon Cocktail

1/8 Lemon Juice. (1/4 oz Lemon Juice)
1/8 Kummel. (1/4 oz Gilka Kummel)
1/4 Green Mint. (1/2 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe)
1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Beefeater’s Gin)
4 Dashes Peach Bitters. (Fee’s Peach Bitters)

Shake (stir, shake, what’s it matter?) well and strain into cocktail glass.

I still haven’t taken the plunge and purchased “Green Mint,” so I guess this is a “Silver Dragon”.

In any case, talk about wacky. I mean, it’s not an unbalanced or undrinkable cocktail. Just really weird.

The Mint and Peach are the dominant elements here with everything else hanging in the background.

I didn’t throw it away. I just can’t imagine any possible circumstances where I would make 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.

Gangadine Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful Framboise Syrup. (1 tsp Monin Raspberry Syrup)
1/3 Oxygenie Cusenier. (3/4 oz Kubler 53)
1/3 White Mint. (3/4 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe)
1/3 Gin. (3/4 oz Beefeater’s Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Wow, is this a pink, girly, and deadly drink. I’d give it points right there along with the Between the Sheets. I picked the Kubler, as previously I’d tried it in a cocktail with mint and thought it quite good. Also good here and didn’t muddy up the drink’s color like a Verte Absinthe would.

I’ve not turned up anything regarding the name, “Gangadine.” Might be a last name.

Oxygénée Cusenier was one of the late-pre ban French Absinthe. It was Oxygenated, supposedly to increase its purity and make it a more healthful beverage. I guess this was an attempt to combat the increasingly strident hue and cry against Absinthe as a beverage in the early 1900s.

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.

Fantasio Cocktail (No. 1)

1/6 White Crème de Menthe.
1/6 Maraschino.
1/3 Brandy.
1/3 Dry Gin.

Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.

Fantasio Cocktail. (No. 2.)

1/6 White Crème de Menthe. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Creme de Menthe)
1/6 Maraschino. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Maraschino)
1/3 Brandy. (3/4 oz Brandy)
1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

I’ve stared and stared at these two Savoy Cocktail Book recipes for Fantasio No. 1 and No. 2 and can find no difference between them, aside from the shaking detail. In the 1934 edition of Patrick Gavin Duffy’s “Official Mixer’s Manual” they are actually both stirred, but the No. 2 gets a cherry. God knows why there are two versions of this cocktail in either book.

Gin and Brandy isn’t one of those things that really pops into my head as a great combination, so I thought about this one for a while, comparing the gins I had in the house. Eventually, I decided to go with a Jonge Genever. It seemed like the slight maltiness would complement the brandy well.

I also nominally cheated on the recipe ratio. Just couldn’t quite face that much liqueur.

Fantasio, slight variation

1/4 oz Brizard White Crème de Menthe
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
3/4 oz Cerbois VSOP Armagnac
1 oz Boomsma Jonge Genever

Stir, strain, cherry.

Maybe I’m on crack, but this isn’t half bad. Sort of a more complex Stinger. The cherry is a nice touch and I like the flavors it brings towards the end of the cocktail after soaking in the booze.

…Some time later…

Well, this is rather embarrassing.

While the Fantasios in the Savoy Cocktail Book are exactly the same, (excepting the stirring/shaking detail,) I was looking through 1934 Patrick Gavin Duffy for the umpteenth time, and noticed the two Fantasios are slightly different:

Fantasio Cocktail No. 1
1/6 White Creme de Menthe (1/2 of 3/4 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe)
1/6 Maraschino (1/2 of 3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino)
1/3 Brandy (3/4 oz Señor Lustau Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez)
1/3 French Vermouth (3/4 oz French Vermouth)
Stir well and strain.
Use glass Number 1.

Fantasio Cocktail No. 2
1/6 White Creme de Menthe
1/6 Maraschino
1/3 Brandy
1/3 Italian Vermouth
Stir well in ice and strain. Add a cherry.
Use glass number 1.

Uh, oops! I’ve no explanation for completely missing the fact that he calls for vermouth instead of Gin. I guess sometimes you see what you want to see!?

So that makes it more of a Brandy Manhattan variation, than a, well, whatever the hell the Savoy Brandy and Gin concoction is.

But the big question, is it any better with vermouth?  I tried No 1 exactly as written and unfortunately my answer is, “No, not really.”  Still disgustingly sweet.

However, again, something like this ain’t bad:

2/3 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Señor Lustau Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez)
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Carpano Antica)
1 tsp Creme de Menthe
1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a cherry (preferably Luxardo or Toschi).

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.

Fallen Angel Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters.
2 Dashes Crème de Menthe. (1/2 bar spoon Brizard Crème de Menthe)
The Juice of 1 Lemon or 1/2 Lime. (Juice 1 lemon)
1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Aviation Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

It has never been made quite clear as to whether this is intended to be taken by the Angel before or after falling; as an encouragement or as a consolation.

Another of my favorite Savoy quotes.

The recipe is sort of odd. I mean the usual ingredient note for cocktails with choice of lemon or lime is, “Juice of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon,” so the fact that this recommends 1/2 lime or a whole lemon is a bit odd. Unfortunately, it’s not a cocktail whose origins have yet been tracked down, so there’s no real way for me to know if it is a typo or not. I chose lemon, and went a little easy on it.

I picked the Aviation Gin, as it seemed the use of lavender in the herb bill might do something interesting with the mint.

I have to admit I expected to dislike this cocktail. I really didn’t think it could possibly be palatable with that much lemon juice against that little sweetener. But, somehow it is. I dunno, I would call it refreshing.

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.