Saratoga Cocktail.
2 Dashes Maraschino. (2/3 Barspoon Luxardo Maraschino)
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters.
1/4 Slice Pineapple.
1 Glass Brandy. (2 oz Chateau Pellehaut Armagnac)
(Muddle Pineapple in Maraschino.  Add Bitters, Brandy and…)  Shake well and strain, adding a little soda water.

I guess I probably picked the wrong glass for this. Nonetheless, this is a tasty cocktail. Mostly dry Armagnac flavor with just a hint of sweetness and exoticism.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that!

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.

Royal Cocktail (No. 3)
1/3 Gin. (3/4 oz Plymouth Gin)
1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1/3 Cherry Brandy. (3/4 oz Cherry Heering)
1 Dash Maraschino. (1 dash Luxardo Maraschino)
Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass, with cherry.

In “Barflies and Cocktails”, Harry McElhone notes this is a “Recipe by Otis Mackinney, from the Hotel Royal, Nice, 1908.”

I liked this a lot more than the previous Royal Cocktail, but it is still not quite there for me.

A dash of Peychaud’s Bitters, or maybe even Absinthe, would go a long way towards making this a truly exciting 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.

Rainbow Cocktail.
1/7 Crème de Cacao. (1/4 oz Mozart Black Chocolate Liqueur)
1/7 Crème de Violette. (1/4 oz Rothman & Winter Violette)
1/7 Yellow Chartreuse. (1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse)
1/7 Maraschino. (1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino)
1/7 Benedictine. (1/4 oz Benedictine)
1/7 Green Chartreuse. (1/4 oz Green Chartreuse)
1/7 Brandy. (1/4 oz Chateau de Pellehaut Reserve Armagnac)
Use liqueur glass and pour ingredients carefully so that they do not mix.

For those of you keeping track, the ingredients arranged themselves in the following order, bottom to top: Mozart Black, Luxardo Maraschino, Benedictine/YellowChartreuse, R&W Violette, Green Chartreuse, Brandy.

Every once in a while someone orders this during Savoy Cocktail Nights at Alembic Bar and we all groan. Why, oh why?

It’s true these are all perfectly palatable liqueurs, but this is just such a pain in the ass to concoct.  And the whole thing together, while not entirely unpleasant, is a bit of a shock to the system, if you are sensitive to sugar.

I finished it, it is true, more out of curiosity than anything else.

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.

Plain Vermouth Cocktail.
(6 People)
5 1/2 Glasses French Vermouth. (2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1 Teaspoonful Absinthe Bitters. (1 Dash Absinthe)
1 dessertspoonful Maraschino. (1 Dash Maraschino)
Shake (I stirred) very thoroughly and serve with a (Luxardo!) cherry.

A lot like the Chrysanthemum cocktail, this is a relatively pleasing light aperitif beverage. Or if you’re off kilter and need something in a drinking session relatively low alcohol to get you back on the path towards pleasant drunken-ness.

Again, sticking with plain old Absinthe for the “Absinthe Bitters” in this cocktail. I don’t know that breaking out the Gin and Wormwood makes much sense here.

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.

Plain Sherry Cocktail.
(6 People)
Pour into the shaker 6 glasses of Sherry (Bodega Dios Baco Amontillado Sherry), a few drops of Absinthe Bitters (generous drop Verte de Fougerolles Absinthe), and a few drops of Maraschino (generous drop Luxardo Maraschino). Shake (I stirred) very thoroughly and serve.

Odd quest for Sherry this time around. I’d lately been enjoying a Lustau Dry Oloroso where sherry was called for, but that bottle was getting a bit tired, so I forced myself to finish it off.

Figured it would be a piece of cake to find a decent Amontillado or similar. Heck, I’ve been buying the Lustau Amontillado since I was in college, how hard should that be to find?

Kind of hard, it turns out. Why on earth is it most upscale grocery stores have a better sherry selection than most liquor stores? Heck, I even visited the esteemed John Walker and Co downtown and they didn’t have a single bottle of Sherry. What is up with that? Has Dominic Venegas stolen it all for Gitane?

Fine, grocery stores, then. Both Andronico’s and Tower Market’s sherry selection kicked most liquor stores’ sherry (non!) selection in the ass, anyway.

Back to the cocktail, obviously, this isn’t going to make a non-sherry drinker turn their head, but for the rest of us, here’s another nice, light aperitif cocktail for those times when the booze just seems a bit much.

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.

Opera Cocktail.

1/6 Maraschino. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino)
1/6 Dubonnet. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Dubonnet Rouge)
2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Beefeater 24)

Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

This version of the Opera is too sweet for me. Tastes like perfumey, wine candy. My first instinct was to increase the Dubonnet Rouge to 3/4 oz and reduce the Maraschino to a bar spoon. That version lacked zest. I think somewhere around a quarter ounce of Maraschino would be about right. A dash or two of Angostura bitters wouldn’t hurt, either.

Received the Beefeater 24 from the folks promoting its launch in the US. Nice bottle, eh? It’s a pleasant gin, a bit more citrus forward than the regular Beefeater and perhaps a bit sweeter. I don’t get much flavor from the much ballyhooed inclusion of Japanese Green Tea. Perhaps the subtle character of green tea would show up in a simpler 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.

Morning Cocktail

2 Dashes Curacao. (2/3 tsp Bols Dry Orange Curacao)
2 Dashes Maraschino. (2/3 tsp Luxardo Maraschino)
2 Dashes Orange Bitters. (2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters)
2 Dashes Absinthe. (1/2 tsp Sirene Absinthe Verte)
1/2 Brandy. (1 oz Lustau Reserve Brandy)
1/2 French Vermouth. (1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)

Shake (well, if you really want to shake, shake. Recommend stirring, myself.) well and strain into cocktail glass. Add a (Mmmm… Luxardo) cherry and squeeze lemon peel on top.

This recipe is verbatim from Harry McElhone’s “Barflies and Cocktails” (and more likely “Harry’s ABCs”). McElhone credits the recipe to “Harry Johnson of New Orleans”. And indeed, it is to be found in the 1900 edition of Harry Johnson’s “Bartenders’ Manual” (Handily published by Mud Puddle Books: “Bartender’s Manual”.)

The only difference between Mr. McElhone’s and Mr. Johnson’s recipes is that Mr. McElhone calls for the Orange Bitters and Mr. Johnson calls for “3 or 4 dashes of bitters (Boker’s Genuine Only)”. Well, times change, and Boker’s Bitters probably weren’t available in London or Paris.

The recipe is a bit twiddly, with all the dashes of this and that.

In addition, I’m growing dissatisfied with the Lustau Brandy. It just doesn’t have much presence in a drink or much length or depth on its own.

Despite that, I found the Morning Cocktail genuinely enjoyable. I was really surprised how dominant the citrus flavors of the cocktail were. There’s some sort of interesting interaction going on between the Dry Vermouth, Curacao, and Lemon Twist.

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.

Moonshine Cocktail
(6 People)

3 Glasses Gin. (1 1/2 oz Martin Miller’s Gin)
2 Glasses French Vermouth. (1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1 Glass Maraschino. (1 barspoon Luxardo Maraschino)

Before shaking add a drop of Absinthe Bitters (Gin and Wormwood). (Add an Olive.)

OK, I cheated slightly on the Maraschino amount. It should have been 1/2 oz, not a barspoon. Just seemed like it would be a bit much, and frankly, 1 teaspoon was plenty.

A fine, but not outstanding 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.

Mary Pickford Cocktail

1/2 Bacardi Rum. (1 oz Montecristo White Rum)
1/2 Pineapple Juice. (1 oz Knudsen Pineapple)
1 Teaspoonful Grenadine. (1 barspoon Homemade Grenadine)
6 Drops Maraschino. (6 drops Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur)

Oddly another Savoy Cocktail which lacks directions. I’m gonna say shake, because it is so much more fun to get that nice little head you get with shaking pineapple juice.

Way back when we talked about the Fairbanks cocktail we talked about the tension in the Fairbanks/Pickford house. Mary Pickford, “America’s Sweetheart”, enjoyed the odd drink. Douglas Fairbanks did not and did not approve of her drinking.

I don’t know who could argue with a fine, light, and enjoyable drink like this. I doubt even Fairbanks would notice it was alcoholic!

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.

Called my local liquor store a while ago and asked them if they were going to carry the Hayman’s Old Tom Gin. Usually, they’re on top of this sort of thing, so I was a bit surprised when the response was, “Hayman’s? I haven’t heard of that.” Fortunately, a quick call to the distributor revealed that the gin was already in Southern California and would be shipped North soon.
Martinez Cocktail
(6 People)

Pour into the shaker 3 glasses of Gin, 3 of French Vermouth, add a dessertspoonful of Orange Bitters and 2 of Curacao or Maraschino. Shake and serve with a cherry and a piece of lemon rind.

I suspect Craddock gets the idiotic idea of using French Vermouth in a Martinez from Robert Vermeire, who espouses this formulation in his book, “Cocktails: How to Mix Them”. And I suppose it is perfectly fine drink, though Martinez, it is not.

Martinez Cocktail
(current Ellestad formulation)

1 1/2 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
Scant teaspoon Luxardo Maraschino
Dash Angostura Orange Bitters
Dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice to chill and strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel over glass. Add a (preferably luxardo or toschi) cherry if you so desire.

If you’re using a higher proof gin, you might want to up the amount of vermouth, but I find with Plymouth, or now Hayman’s, 2-1 is a good ratio. I also like to add a dash of angostura, as I find it tames some of the tropical marshmallow candy notes that show up when Carpano Antica is in close proximity to Luxardo Maraschino. As they say, your mileage may vary.

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.