Cocktail Hacker

I pondered for quite some time as to how to introduce this week’s cocktail. How do you present a convincing argument that a combination of chocolate and gin is going to be a good thing? It’s not a combo most of us would think to try. Then I remembered the incredible Twentieth Century Cocktail. At the time it seemed a very bizarre combination. I mean, really, would you think to combine gin, chocolate and lemon juice? I certainly wouldn’t. But the resulting drink is amazing.

With that in mind, I have to think that the Alexander will also be deliciously interesting. Give me about a week and I’ll let you know!

Alexander (Joy of Mixology)

2 oz Dry Gin

1 oz White Creme de Cacao

1 oz Cream

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice

2) Shake until combined and well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

This week I’m staying old school, Savoy style, but changing up the base spirit. I’m switching gears over to rum and I’m going to be mixing up the Knickerbocker. Well, more specifically, the Knickerbocker Special from the Savoy. I include the differentiator because the standard Knickerbocker recipe is completely different, calling for dry and sweet vermouth and gin. Basically a Martini with a new name. And since I’ve already explored the Martini, more than once, I’ll be sticking to the rum variant exclusively.

Knickerbocker Special (Savoy via Underhill Lounge)

1 1/2 oz Rum

1 tsp Raspberry Syrup

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Orange Juice

2 Dashes Curacao

1 Chunk of Pineapple

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

4) Garnish with pineapple

The pineapple bit is speculative on my part. Erik suggests muddling it with the other ingredients before shaking and straining. The Savoy doesn’t mention what to do with it. I’ll play around and let you know what I find out.

As for the name, my first guess was that it was named after the half-pants of the same name. Thankfully Dr. Cocktail has a better explanation in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. “‘Father Knickerbocker’ was the allegorical patron saint of New York City and generations of native New Yorkers claimed kinship to him.” That certainly makes a lot more sense.

On to the mixing!

I started the week with the classic Savoy recipe for the Jockey Club Cocktail and found it be mediocre at best. The flavor of the creme de noyau was completely lost to the gin and bitters. The lemon juice shined through, but only dimly. Finally, there was nearly no sweetness at all. It was okay, but definitely not one that I’ll be mixing for myself or others again.

Looking further I found that the current recipes changed the Savoy formula drastically. Of this new breed I first mixed up the recipe from Difford’s Guide #8.

Jockey Club Cocktail (Difford's Guide #8)

2 oz Gin

1/2 oz Amaretto

1/2 oz Lemon Juice

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 Dash Orange Bitters

This is much better! Fair level of sweetness, could be a touch more. The bitters are a bit too light, though. I think two dashes would serve this drink better. From there, my search continued and I landed on the Joy of Mixology recipe.

Jockey Club Cocktail #2 (Joy of Mixology)

2 oz Gin

3/4 oz Amaretto

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Angostura Bitters to Taste

You’ll note that for his recipe Regan has changed up the name. He felt that his reformulation was sufficiently different from the original as to necessitate a different name. While I agree in principal, I don’t think anyone will be drinking the Savoy version of this drink. So, in that light, I think it would be safe to simply call it the Jockey Club Cocktail. Another few interesting points. First, Regan bumps up the amaretto and lemon juice to 3/4 oz. I think this works well. It increases the sweetness slightly but he also ups the sour to compensate. Second, you’ll note that he’s stayed with amaretto rather than creme de noyau. More on that in a bit. Finally, Regan has dropped the orange bitters entirely. I agree with this move as well. With the other flavors being bold the orange flavor was completely lost in this drink.

As I mentioned, this recipe is a bit sweeter, but that additional sweetness truly is balanced well with the sourness. As for the bitters, for my taste two dashes provided the perfect level of flavor. Next, the gin. For my first mix I used Tanqueray 10. It was too light and its flavors were completely lost to the other ingredients. Switching to regular Tanqueray solved that problem wonderfully. Tanqueray has a bold enough flavor that it’s able to compete with the other ingredients but still not be overwhelming. Finally, the amaretto and the source of the subtitle for this post. I decided I wanted to mix up this recipe using creme de noyau instead of amaretto. The resulting color was certainly more interesting. The flavor, on the other hand, was not. My tasting notes read “Tasty, but slightly off flavor. Not sure if I like this one.” Colton was over that night so I asked for his input. His comment? “Tastes like someone spiked the Hawaiian Punch.” And thinking about it, it truly does. The net of it all? Stick with amaretto, you’ll be much happier.

Jockey Club Cocktail (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Gin (Tanqueray)

3/4 oz Amaretto

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

This drink is a tasty one, at least with the later recipes. I learned a good lesson from this drink though. Just because a drink is an old classic doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. Spam is also an old classic, after all.

I’m going back to my all time favorite spirit this week, gin. It’s been far too long since I’ve ventured down this path and it’s time I change that. This week we’re heading back to the pages of the Savoy for an old recipe. In flipping through the recipes, the Jockey Club Cocktail jumped out as a unique combination of interesting flavors. Another unique twist in this recipe is that it appears, at first glance, quite dry. Should be a good time.

Jockey Club Cocktail (Savoy)

1 1/2 oz Dry Gin

4 Dashes Lemon Juice

2 Dashes Creme de Noyau

1 Dash Orange Bitters

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

This week I’m going to be mixing up a drink I’ve had on my mental list for a long time, the Rusty Nail. I’m a huge fan of scotch. Well, more correctly whiskey in general. Drambuie on the other hand, I have no idea what to expect. I’ve never tried it and actually haven’t even looked it up to see what the flavor is. Should be a great experience! For this recipe, Regan recommends experimenting with the choice of scotch to change the flavor profile of the cocktail. Since I’ve got a reasonable selection of scotch this will be a very fun week.

Rusty Nail (Joy of Mixology)

2 1/2 oz Scotch

1/2 oz Drambuie

1) Combine ingredients in a mixing glass

2) Add ice and stir until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass