Cocktail Hacker

As the title hints this week was nearly a bust for me. The first Algonquin I mixed up was the recipe from Vintage Cocktails and Spirits. Since the recipe called for rye I naturally reached for my go-to, Rittenhouse Bonded. However when I started sipping I was disappointed. The drink was very rye heavy and not particularly tasty. However, this drink has survived the test of time so I knew it had to be pretty good if done right. So I pressed on.

Next I tried the recipe from Difford’s Guide #8 (2 oz Rye, 1 1/4 oz Dry Vermouth, 1 1/4 oz Pineapple Juice, 2 Dashes Peychaud’s). The drink was a lot more balanced and not nearly as rye heavy. I didn’t find that the bitters added much and since this was the only recipe I found that called for them I dropped them altogether going forward. Having tried this one I knew I was on the right track.

Next on the docket was the recipe from Gary Regan’s Bartenders Bible (1 1/2 oz Blended Whiskey, 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth, 1 oz Pineapple Juice). I decided to stay with the rye since that’s what everything else called for. This drink was much sweeter than the others and while the vermouth was still their it was very light. As I continued to sip this one I came to an interesting realization. Rittenhouse is 100 proof and balanced this version fairly well. Were I to use an 80 proof it would be much more muted. Maybe, that’s what went wrong with the first recipe I tried? It was intended for 80 proof and my 100 proof simply overpowered the other ingredients.

On that note I decided to mix it up again with an 80 proof rye (Templeton). Wow! A much more balanced cocktail where the rye doesn’t overpower the other ingredients. While that’s all well and good I still prefer Rittenhouse for my everyday mixing, saving the pricier stuff for special occasions. Since I knew a ratio that worked well with 80 proof I was able to extrapolate a recipe that works great with 100 proof Rittenhouse. So, if your rye of choice is 80 proof go with the original recipe from Vintage Spirits and Cocktails (2 oz Rye, 1 oz Dry Vermouth, 1 oz Pineapple Juice). If you, like me, enjoy Rittenhouse, try my modified recipe.

The Algonquin Cocktail (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye

1 1/4 oz Dry Vermouth

1 1/4 oz Pineapple Juice

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

What’s my final verdict on this one? It’s pretty good. Not my favorite cocktail of all time, but I’d certainly be happy to drink one. The rye is definitely the star. The pineapple juice adds a subtle flavor but light sweetness is the key. Finally the vermouth adds complexity and rounds out the flavor profile. If you’re dying for a new rye cocktail this one is worth a go.

Happy Repeal Day to you all!

I’m starting to notice a bit of a trend here. Pink cocktails are delicious. Now I have no doubt we could whip up something pink that would taste terrible, but for the most part I think my contention holds true. The El Presidente certainly follows this rule to a tee. I didn’t make any real alterations to the recipe this week, just tweaked it to my liking. So, let’s start with the recipe then we’ll talk tweaks.

El Presidente (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz White Rum

1/2 oz Pineapple Juice

1/2 oz Lime Juice

1/4 oz Grenadine

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Looks almost exactly the same, but it’s different I swear. The first tweak is I experimented with is the amount of grenadine. I found anywhere from 1/4 – 1/3 oz of my homemade grenadine to be great. My personal choice is 1/4 oz as it results in a drier cocktail that I think really works wonderfully in this case.

The only other tweak I’d suggest is pick a rum that you love for this drink. I tried my house white rum, Flor de Caña, and Rhum Clemént Première Canne. Both resulted in fantastic cocktails but for this application I prefer the Flor de Caña. It allows the juices and grenadine to take center stage in the flavor profile which is exactly what I was looking for.

I will definitely be adding this drink to my regular rotation and I highly recommend you give it a try.

You hear crude oil referred to as Black Gold from time to time. I’d like to propose that the Corn N’ Oil could easily be renamed the same. Made with Cruzan Black Strap this cocktail is deep and intriguing. The rum gives is a very complex molasses base flavor and the falernum punches it up to the next level. It may take you a few sips before you decide if you really like it or not though. My first sip I was stunned by the intense flavor of the rum and nearly concluded it wasn’t a drink for me. Subsequent sips however pulled me in. On the other hand my mom tried one sip and immediately passed on any future sampling. The Corn N’ Oil is certainly not a beginner cocktail.

The reason behind this is two-fold. First is the rum. Sure, you could make this drink with another dark rum, but you shouldn’t. I whipped one up with Gosling’s and it was great, fantastic in fact, but it was lacking. I missed the depth and punch of the Cruzan. I have no doubt that there are some other truly dark, as in Batman, rums out there that would also work great. If you know of some others by all means please let me know.

Second is your falernum. This syrup, although easy to make, is some seriously powerful mojo in the glass. It’s easy to add too much and have it overwhelm the rum. For my personal tastes the homemade batch I made was great. Sure, I have some tweaks I’m going to make next time. Namely, a little lighter on the sugar and some additional spices. Perhaps some cinnamon, cardamom and anise, but just a touch. However, given those tweaks if you were going to make your own batch you definitely can’t go wrong with the recipe as it stands for your starting point.

A final note on falernum. As I mentioned in the DIY Falernum post, some recipes call for fresh lime juice. Since I left that out of mine I needed to compensate with a bit extra in the cocktail itself. Definitely not a problem, but certainly something you want to be aware of as you mix up this drink.

So, when it’s all said and done here is my modified recipe. I upped the rum content to offset the slightly oversweet (in my opinion) falernum and added some additional lime juice to balance it all out. Enjoy my friends.

Corn N' Oil (Cocktail Hacker)

2 1/2 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum

1/2 oz Falernum

1/2 Lime, Quartered

1) Build in an ice filled highball glass

2) Squeeze in lime wedges and stir

Like the Champagne Cocktail I tried to like the Seelbach. In fact, I’m finishing my last one as I type this. While I won’t say that the drink is bad (it certainly isn’t) I also won’t say it’s great. The combination of bitters in the quantity called for makes for a drink with a very muddied bitters flavor. You lose the distinctness of each of the bitters and you’re left with a combination that while not bad or overpowering lacks crispness. But, while we’re on the topic of bitters, I’ll say they are absolutely necessary, and strangely the amount called for isn’t overwhelming. I’d say go with 5-7 dashes of each based on your preference and don’t simply wash the glass as you may see suggested.

The orange flavor of the triple sec does shine through nicely and I would definitely suggest you use whatever triple sec you mix with most. Cointreau, while fantastic, simply gets lost in this drink. I used the Hiram Walker triple sec that I discussed a while back and found the results to be very good.

Let’s talk bourbon for a second. As with most cocktails, I went with a rye heavy bourbon, Bulleit in this case, because that’s what I generally prefer. In truth I think you could use any bourbon you like and still have good results. Though, like the triple sec, you’re using a comparatively small amount so don’t waste your top shelf stuff. That said don’t use rot gut either. Don’t want to destroy an otherwise good cocktail.

Finally let’s talk champagne. If I can be perfectly honest were you mixing this drink for me I’d prefer you simply give me a nice full glass of champagne and we can call it good. I love me some good champagne. Okay, I like even non-good champagne, but I digress. To shake things up a bit (pun intended) I tried Mazzer’s suggestion and dropped the champagne to 1 oz for one of my drinks and found the bitters to be much too strong. If you’re going to go this route, which amounts to basically an Old Fashioned with triple sec for sweetener, I’d say try two dashes of each bitters and you should be solid. All told, I still prefer the drink with champagne. In fact, I like more champagne that Gary Regan suggests. Now, granted, this could and certainly probably is a result of my love of champagne, but we’ll ignore that for a moment.

So, in quick summary, the Seelbach Cocktail is good, but not amazing. I’d drink it without complaint, but I’d take a simple glass of champagne first. My preferred recipe is from Vintage Cocktail and Spirits. Sip and enjoy my friends.

Seelbach Cocktail (Vintage Cocktails and Spirits)

1 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz Triple Sec

7 Dashes Angostura Bitters

7 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters

5 oz Champagne

1) Build in the order given in a champagne flute

2) Garnish with an orange twist

Sacrilegious or not this drink is delicious. The color is a lovely pumpkin orange which seems even more appropriate to the season. The smell starts with the orange followed by light herbal hints from the vermouth. The flavor is also very orangey with the vermouths playing a strong role. Even with a bold gin the vermouths are still solidly the base of the flavor.

On that note picking the right gin needs to be your first priority. With so many other bold flavors a light gin doesn’t hold up. I opted for Tanqueray and found its bold juniper flavor to be a great complement. You certainly want something with a juniper forward flavor. A citrus flavor would be lost completely to the orange juice and bitters.

The other ingredients are, of course, quite important and I suggest you go with whatever vermouths you like best and good fresh squeezed orange juice. That leaves the Grand Marnier, which if you making the straight version is exactly what you should use. However, there is another option, orange curacao for the curled variation. I tried both and quite frankly I can’t tell the difference. I think this is due in part to the small quantity used in the drink. But more to the point, Grand Marnier is simply a top shelf curacao in the same manner that Cointreau is a top shelf triple sec. So, assuming you’ve got decent curacao the difference between the two options should be negligible.

As for recipe ratios I found Gary Regan’s to be great. More than that almost all the other recipes I found were nearly identical save for the size. And size is the only tweak I recommend you make. With Gary’s original cocktail you only end up with about 2.75 oz of a fairly low strength cocktail. I suggest you double it.

Satan's Whiskers (Cocktail Hacker)

1 oz Gin

1 oz Dry Vermouth

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1 oz Orange Juice

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

1 tsp Orange Bitters (~4-5 Dashes)

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Finally, as with some previous cocktails this one works very well with a float of 2-3 oz of Champagne or other sparkling wine. It gives the drink a nice effervescence and works with the other flavors nicely. I hope you’ve all had a great Halloween week and that great cocktails were part of the festivities.