How’s Your Drink? Drinks

Eric Felton’s How’s Your Drink is a fantastic book about cocktails and the brief history that surrounds them. Recommended. I’ve typed up every drink listed in the book. If Eric ever reads this and wishes for them to not be published, let me know, I’ll happily take them down.

Chapter 1: Of Ice and Men

Bittered Gin Sling ¹

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth or sherry
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple (sugar) syrup
• A dash or two of Angostura bitters
• Soda water

Assemble

Shake all but the fizzy water with ice. Strain into a tumbler or high-ball glass over ice, and top with soda. Garnish with lemon peel.

Vieux Carré ²

• Dash Peychaud’s Bitters
• Dash Angostura Bitters
• 1/2 teaspoon Benedictine
• 1 1/2 oz cognac
• 1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth

Assemble

Mix over ice in a short glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Sazerac ³

• 1 cube of sugar
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• 2 oz rye whiskey or cognac
• Herbsaint or Richard liqueur

assemble:

: Dissolve sugar in bitters and a splash of water. Stir with whiskey or cognac and ice. Strain into an Herbsaint-coated glass. Lemon twist.

Raspberry Rum Shrub ⁴

• 1 oz raspberry shrub syrup
• 2 oz dark rum
• 4 oz ginger ale or soda water

assemble:

: Build with ice in a stemmed goblet, and stir. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Raspberry Shrub Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 pints raspberries
• 2 cups white wine vinegar

assemble:

: Whisk water and sugar together at a boil. Reduce heat for a few minutes and add raspberries, stirring occasionally, for 10 min. Add vinegar and bring to a boil for 2 min. Strain, cool, and bottle. Keep refrigerated (even if the Founding Shrubbers didn’t).

T.R.’s Libelous Mint Julep ⁵

• 4 oz rye whiskey
• 1/4 oz brandy
• Fresh mint
• 1 sugar cube
• Sliced pineapple, sliced banana, orange slices and cherries

assemble:

: Gently muddle a few leaves of mint with the sugar and a good splash of water in the bottom of a glass (or silver Julep cup, if you have one). Add brandy and whiskey, and then fill the cup to the rim with pulverized ice. Stir until the outside of the glass is thick with frost. Pile the top of the drink high with mint and fruit.

Brandy Smash ⁶

• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 or 4 mint leaves
• 1 1/2 oz brandy
• 1/4 oz Benedictine

assemble:

In a short glass, gently crush the mint in the sugar with a splash of water. Fill the glass with well-crushed ice, add the brandy and Benedictine, and stir. Garnish with a sprig of mint, and if you like, cut a straw in half and stick the two halves in the glass.

Chapter 2: Slam, Bang, Tang

Bernard Devoto Martini ⁷

• 1.845206 oz gin
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth

assemble:

Fill a pitcher with “five hundred pounds of ice.” Add gin and vermouth and stir. “You must be unhurried but you must work fast, for a diluted Martini would be a contradiction in terms.” Pour into chilled Martini glasses. Twist a lemon peel over the top of the glass and then discard the piece of rind.

Near-Perfect Martini ⁸

• 2 oz gin
• 1/4 - 1/3 oz dry vermouth

assemble:

Shake and/or stir with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garish with olive.

Original Intent Martini ⁹

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters

assemble:

Shake and/or stir with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garish with olive.

Americano Highball ¹⁰

• 1 1/2 oz Campari
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• Soda water

assemble:

Pour Campari and vermouth over ice in a highball glass. Top with soda water. Garish with orange peel.

Black Velvet ¹¹

• 1/2 Champagne
• 1/2 Guiness stout

assemble:

: Pour equal parts Champagne and stout into a tall beer glass.

Vesper ¹²

• 3 oz gin
• 1 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

assemble:

Shake over ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with “a large, thin slice of lemon peel.”

Savoy Hotel Special ¹³

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz Dubonnet (red)

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

Chapter 3: Straight Up

Bronx Cocktail ¹⁴

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 oz orange peel
• 1/4 oz dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz sweet vermouth

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Ward Eight ¹⁵

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz fresh orange juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

Gimlet ¹⁶

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1/4 to 1/2 oz simple syrup (to taste)

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a thin slice of lime. The Gimlet can also be served in a short glass on the rocks. Add a couple of dashes of bitters into the mix and you get a drink that I think we should name a “Marlowe.”

Negroni ¹⁷

• 1 oz Campari
• 1 oz sweet (red) vermouth
• 1 oz gin

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass, or serve on the rocks in an Old-Fashioned glass. Add a splash of seltzer if you like and garnish with orange – slice or peel.

Dubonnet Cocktail ¹⁸

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 1/2 oz Dubonnet (red)

assemble:

Shake with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel. Or, build it on the rocks and you get a drink we should call a “Queen Mother.”

Dandy Cocktail ¹⁹

• 1 1/2 oz rye whiskey or bourbon
• 1 1/2 oz Dubonnet (red)
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Lemon and orange peel

assemble:

Shake with ice (extra vigorous shaking will bring out the flavorful oils in the citrus peel) and strain into a cocktail glass.

Chapter 4: On the Rocks

Old-Fashioned ²⁰

• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 pieces of lemon peel
• 2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey
• Orange slice and maraschino cherry

assemble:

Put sugar in bottom of an old-fashioned glass and douse with bitters. Muddle (that is, grind as with a pestle) the sugar and bitters along with one piece of lemon peel. A small splash of water can help dissolve the sugar. Add bourbon, ice ad stir. Garnish with orange and cherry (or don’t) and the other lemon peel. If you like, you can add the orange and cherry to the muddling, but then remove them and replace with fresh fruit for the garnish. Give it a squirt of seltzer if you want, but no more.

Bardstown Sling ²¹

• 1 3/4 oz bourbon
• 1 oz triple sec
• 1 oz cranberry juice cocktail
• Juice of 1/2 a lime (or less, if too tart)

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a slice of orange and a wedge of lime.

Silver Gin Fizz ²²

• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Juice of 1/2 a lime (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (or less, to taste)
• 1 egg white
• 2 oz gin
• Chilled soda water

assemble:

Shake juice, sugar, egg, and gin with ice. Then shake it some more. Don’t stop shaking yet. If you’re using pasteurized egg whites, keep shaking. Once you’re worn out, strain into a fizz or highball glass (don’t put any ice in the glass). Top the frothy mix with a few ounces of cold soda water.

Gin and Tonic ²³

• 1 1/2 oz unapologetic gin
• 4 - 6 oz tonic water
• Juice of half a lime

assemble:

Pour gin and tonic over ice in a highball glass. Squeeze in fresh lime juice and stir, if you would be so kind.

Dark and Stormy ²⁴

• 1 1/2 oz Gosling’s Black Seal rum
• 4 - 6 oz Barritt’s ginger beer

assemble:

: Build on ice in a highball glass.

Horse’s Neck ²⁵

• 1 1/2 oz bourbon (or brandy, or gin, or no liquor at all)
• Lemon peel
• Ginger ale

assemble:

Carve the peel of a lemon so it is one long, unbroken spiral. Arrange it in a highball glass so that one end touches the bottom of the glass and the other end is draped over the rim. Toss a few ice cubes down inside the spiral of a lemon peel. Pour in the liquor, or don’t. Fill with ginger ale.

Chapter 5: Libation Tribulations

Florodora ²⁶

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz framboise (raspberry liqueur)
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 3 - 4 oz ginger ale

assemble:

Build in a highball glass with ice. Garnish with a slice of lime and some fresh raspberries if you have them handy.

Bacardi Special ²⁷

• 1 1/2 oz Bacardi white rum
• 3/4 oz gin
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 2 teaspoons grenadine

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel or lime. [For a regular Bacardi cocktail, just drop the gin.]

El Presidente ²⁸

• 1 1/2 oz light rum
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz orange curaçao
• A dash of grenadine

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Clipper Cocktail ²⁹

• 1 1/2 oz golden rum
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1 teaspoon grenadine

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Cantarito ³⁰

• 1 1/2 oz tequilla
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz fresh orange juice
• 4 to 6 oz grapefruit soda (such as Squirt)
• Lemon, lime, and orange wedges

assemble:

: Stir all together with plenty of ice in a tall glass rimmed with salt.

Chapter 6: How Sweet It Is

Pink Lady ³¹

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz applejack (apple brandy)
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 to 1/2 oz grenadine (to taste)
• 1 egg white

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

The Grasshopper ³²

• 1 oz crème de menthe (green)
• 1 oz crème de cacao (either clear or dark)
• 1 oz cream (or half-and-half)

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a saucer Champagne glass.

Smith and Curran ³³

• 2 oz crème de cacao
• 1 oz sweet cream (or half-and-half)
• Soda water

assemble:

Build over ice in a highball glass and stir just enough to mix the ingredients, but not so much as to dissipate the soda.

Triple Pousse Café ³⁴

• 1/3 curaçao
• 1/3 Chartreuse
• 1/3 cognac

assemble:

A recipe from the 1937 Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em by Stanley Clisby Arthur, who writes *“Easily made so it is suggested that the amateur mixer try his hand on this one before experimenting with the multiple-ringed kinds. It has all the delights of the more intricate pousse cafés.” Layer the spirits, starting with the curaçao, in a small, narrow glass.

Deconstructed Negroni ³⁵

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

assemble:

Build over ice in a short glass and stir. Top with Aperol foam (made in separate glass).

Aperol Foam ³⁶

• 1 egg white
• 2 oz strained grapefruit juice
• 1 oz Aperol_
• 2 tsp orange bitters

assemble:

: Swizzle-whisk ingredients into a frothy foam.

Irish Coffee ³⁷

• 4 oz strong black coffee
• 1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey
• 2-3 lumps sugar, to taste
• Heavy cream

assemble:

Start with well-chilled heavy cream. Whisk the cream lightly so it is thick but can still be poured. Do not add sugar to the cream.

Heat a glass goblet by rinsing it with hot water. Fill it three-quarters of the way with coffee, whiskey, and sugar, and stir.

Next, touch the surface of the coffee with a spoon turned bowl-down. Pour the cream over the back of the spoon, floating it on top of the coffee. If the cream floats easily, you probably whipped it up a little too stiffly, as getting the cream to float should be a challenge. Don’t mix the cream into the coffee. Instead, as old Clementine advised, “sip and the whiskey laces through coffee, through cream.”

Chapter 7: Cocktails and Combat

French 75 ³⁸

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Champagne

assemble:

Mix gin, lemon juice, and sugar over ice in a tall glass. Top up with Champagne. Garnish with cherry and lemon peel.

Victory Cocktail ³⁹

• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
• 3/4 oz dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz orange juice
• 1/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/4 oz grenadine

assemble:

: Shake over ice and strain into a Martini glass.

Torpedo Juice ⁴⁰

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz applejack (apple brandy)
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 to 1/2 oz grenadine (to taste)

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

General Order #1 ⁴¹

• 1 oz bourbon
• 3 oz fresh apple cider
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 fresh egg

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass.

Chapter 8: Here’s How! (And Where)

Rob Roy ⁴²

• 2 oz Scotch whisky
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

assemble:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.

Thistle ⁴³

• 1 1/2 oz Scotch whisky
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes of Angostura bitters

assemble:

: Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.

Chimayó Cocktail ⁴⁴

Courtesy of the Rancho de Chimayó

• 1 1/2 oz tequilla
• 1 oz unfiltered apple cider
• 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 oz crème de cassis

assemble:

: Stir in a glass with ice. Garnish with a slice of unpeeled apple.

Manhattan ⁴⁵

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• A dash or two of Angostura bitters

assemble:

Shake–in a cocktail shaker, please– with ice, and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Clover Club ⁴⁶

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 egg white (fresh or pasteurized)

assemble:

Shake vigorously with ice–drinks with egg white need extra elbow grease–and strain into a little round aluminum Russel Wright cocktail cups, if you can afford them.

Frozen Daiquiri ⁴⁷

(Adapted from “Here’s How–The Warning Way! circa 1947)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 oz white-label rum
• 2 cups finely cracked ice

assemble:

Place in blender. Hit button. Feel free to double the amount of lime juice and sugar.

The Lucky Jim ⁴⁸

• 3 oz vodka
• 1/4 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz cucumber juice

assemble:

: Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Float a slice of unpeeled cucumber on the top.

Chapter 9: The Spirits of Christmas

Tom and Jerry ⁴⁹

• 1/2 cup batter
• 1 oz brandy
• 1 oz rum
• hot water

assemble:

Ladle batter into a heated mug. Pour in liquor and then fill with boiling hot water. Top with grated nutmeg. Let cool just enough to be drinkable, and serve with a spoon for stirring. For an even sweeter take on the holiday drink, substitute Baileys for the brandy.

Tom and Jerry Batter

assemble:

Separate the whites and yolks of 4 eggs. Whip the egg whites, with a sprinkle of cream of tartar, until they are stiff. Fold in 3/4 cup powdered sugar and the egg yolks. Mix until the batter is light and frothy. Makes enough for about 8 drinks.

Bishop’s Cooler ⁵⁰

• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 orange
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 oz Burgundy
• 1/2 oz Jamaican rum

assemble:

: Squeeze lemon and orange over cracked ice in a 10-oz. glass; add sugar and stir. Add burgundy and stir; float the rum.

Christmas Bowl of Bishop ⁵¹

• 2 lemons
• 1/2 pint water
• Whole mulling spices
• 1 bottle ruby port
• 1/4 cup sugar, more or less, to taste

assemble:

Study two lemons with half a dozen cloves each. Roast the lemons for half an hour, more or less, in a 350-degree oven. Cut the roasted lemons in half and put them into a saucepan with half a pint of water and whole mulling spices, such as cinnamon, allspice, ginger, mac, and star anise. Don’t use powdered spices, which will make the drink sludgy. Boil off a little of the water before adding the port. and then sugar to taste. Be sure not to boil the wine, but let it steep just below a simmer for an hour. If the punch is too strong, add a little more water. Serve steaming in punch cups or London dock glasses.