Drink recipes: French 75 – Part 3

New York’s Stork Club was the epitome of glamour as it catered to the rich and famous from the fields of show business, sports, politics and the underworld. The Stork Club also made the cocktail “French 75″ popular.

The French 75 was named after a piece of French World War I Artillery that helped to stabilize the gun which resulted in a higher rate of accuracy. It is hardly surprising then, that this drink would know how to pack a punch. With a combination of Champagne and gin I wouldn’t recommend over indulging.

There are two options as to how to make a French 75 as below:

French 75 (One option)

4 parts gin

1 tbsp sugar syrup

2 parts fresh lemon juice

Champagne

Combine all the ingredients except the Champagne in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled highball glass. Fill with Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.

French 75 (second option)

2 parts gin

1 packet sugar

juice of half a lemon

Champagne

Pour the cognac and lemon juice into a glass and top with Champagne (although not right to the top), add sugar. After the sugar has stopped fizzing up, top the glass up with more Champagne.

No one is quite certain who first concocted the cocktail, but it was definitely a hit with American servicemen before being made popular by the New York glamour crowd. The Bar Hemmingway at the Ritz Paris actually serves a version which they name the Ritz 75. The Ritz 75 adds mandarin juice to the mix for an added tang.

Another version of the French 75, featured in the New York Bartender’s Guide, uses cognac instead of gin

NY Bartender’s Guide French 75

4 parts cognac

1 tbsp sugar syrup

2 parts fresh lemon juice

Champagne

Combine all the ingredients, except the champagne, in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and pour into a chilled highball glass. Top with cold Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.

Enjoy the cocktail, but watch out for the gun exploding in your head the next morning. Painkillers are definitely recommended as you discover that the French 75 is not a close ally after all.

What are the Many Things That you Will Need for a Bloody Mary Recipe?

There are many different types of drinks that you can make at home or order from bars and restaurants. Some of these drinks are the current favorites with very exotic sounding names. Other alcoholic drinks are old time favorites that people have been drinking for many years now. One such drink is that of Bloody Mary. This classic drink is not that difficult for you to make. The primary thing that you will need is a Bloody Mary recipe.

Now you can get the Bloody Mary recipe from one of the many books that list the various alcoholic drinks and gives their recipes. Since this is a classic you will be able to find not just the normal recipe but the many variations that are there. For all of these Bloody Mary recipes you will need to select the best ingredients that you can. By choosing inferior ingredients your Bloody Mary recipe will turn out really bad.

So what are the many things that you will need for a Bloody Mary recipe? Well you will need Vodka and tomato juice. These are the main items that are needed for the drink to get their real great taste. Next you will need Worcestershire sauce and fresh lemon juice. These two items are there to give some spice and sour taste to the Bloody Mary.

Now the next items that you will need are Tabasco sauce and the garnishes. Now when you have chosen the various items that will give you a great Bloody Mary recipe you should begin to follow the recipe out so that your Bloody Mary will turn out tasting fantastic. You will have to measure the right amount of all of the ingredients so that you end up with a Bloody Mary or you may end up with another type of drink altogether.

Now what are the amount of ingredients that you will need to add to get this great drink? Well you will 1 ½ ounces of good quality Vodka, ½ cup of great tasting tomato juice, from the fresh lemons you need to get 2 teaspoons, the two types of sauces – Tabasco and Worcestershire are to added according to your taste buds. The garnishes that you will use are a fresh, good celery stick and a wedge of lemon.

Now to get the Bloody Mary recipe right you will need to combine the Vodka, tomato juice, the two sauces and the fresh lemon juice together. You should also have salt and pepper to taste and 1 cup of crisp ice cubes to make the mixture all chilled.

Once all of these items are combined together you will need to shake them thoroughly and then strain this mix into a tall glass that is filled with lots of ice cubes. The final items that you should take from your Bloody Mary recipe to garnish this classic drink are the celery stick and the lemon wedge.

Drink recipes: Whiskey sour – Part 1

The Whiskey Sour is ultimately one of the most popular drinks on the planet. Whenever I was bar tending, many individuals would ask me to make them the “Whiskey Sour”. This drink is very simple, as it does not require that many ingredients, however; it can be enhanced per ingredient. When it is enhanced, the name does tend to change, however; if you use Whiskey and you add something simple with the Whiskey, it stays the same.

The traditional drink includes: Whiskey, Sour Mix (or some make a homemade mix from Lemon Juice and a variety of individual bitters), and Maraschino Cherry Juice (although some people use maraschino liqueur or substitute with just a splash of Grenadine).

I have developed an amazing, yet original way of preparing this popular drink on a variety of wavelengths.

Sarah’s Whiskey Sour

1 oz. Whiskey (Jack Daniels works best)

1 oz. Amaretto Liqueur (DisaRonno, although DaVinci and others work good, too)

1 oz. Raspberry Liqueur

1 oz. Peach Schnapps

1 oz. Maraschino Cherry Liqueur

4 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix

1 splash of Grenadine

Combine the Whiskey, Amaretto Liqueur, Raspberry Liqueur, Peach Schnapps, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur, Sweet & Sour Mix, and Grenadine and serve in a chilled glass on the rocks with a regular or maraschino cherry.

Drink recipes: White lady or Delilah

The White Lady has got to be the cocktail that you simply must dress up for. As a child I remember watching my mother’s friends arriving in their pillbox hats and lace gloves, it seemed all very ’sophisticated darling’. If you’re having a party then why not make it an occasion and dress the part?

I have come across various different recipes and they are all pretty much the same. However what I have realised, is that the difference comes with the preparation of the drink. What follows is a scaled down version which I do and to be totally honest it does not in my opinion have any adverse effects to the end product.

I make it this way all the time and it works for me.

Serves 4

Ingredients

100 ml Plymouth gin(you can use any other i just prefer the taste to this one.)

100 ml Cointreau

50ml Lemon Juice

50 ml Lime Juice

4 tablespoons caster sugar

Crushed ice cubes

Equipment

Cocktail Shaker

Small jug

mixer

4 Chilled glasses

Method

Juice the lemons and limes and then pour into the jug through a sieve (by doing this you will not have any pieces of the fruit in your drink). Add the caster sugar and stir until it has dissolved.

Measure your Gin and put it into the shaker along with the citrus juice and sugar mix.

Add the ice cubes.

Shake over ice and then pour into your chilled glasses.

If you want to garnish your cocktail then lightly beat an egg white in a dish and dip the glasses rim down into it, next dip the rim into some sugar.(It goes with out saying that you should do this before you pour the cocktail into the glass.)

Variations

Once you have caught the bug, cocktail making is addictive. If you like the White Lady and lets be honest it’s hard not to, it is extremely refreshing. The citrus contrasts wonderfully with the warmness of the gin and unlike a lot of other cocktails the White Lady is not sickly sweet.

So Why not try making the Pink Lady. The key ingredients are very similar to the White Lady, so you can be sure that you will like it. However the Grenadine Syrup adds a slight tint to the liquid and a rather interesting taste.

Ingredients

100 ml Gin

4 Tablespoons Caster Sugar

100 ml Lemon or Lime Juice

A splash of Grenadine Syrup

4 Maraschino Cherries

Equipment

Cocktail Shaker

Small jug

4 Chilled glasses

Method

Juice your lemons or limes however do not combine the two as with the Whit Lady as the citrus flavours will be too over powering. Pour into the jug through a sieve. Add the caster sugar and stir until it has dissolved.

Measure your Gin and put it into the shaker along with the citrus juice and sugar mix, Grenadine Syrup and ice cubes.

Shake over ice and then pour into your chilled glasses and drop a Maraschino cherry into the glass as a garnish.

Drink recipes: Long island iced tea

The Long Island Ice Tea is one of the most popular, yet universal cocktails on the planet today and originates from Long Island, New York. First served in the 70s era in a local inn, The Long Island Ice Tea proved to be one of the ultimate cocktail successors of the modern world.

The sweet & sour mix possesses a rather “acquired” flavor, hence why you either love or hate it, as a result. Due to the sour mixes fluent, unique flavor, some people prefer to have a substitute or none at all, as a result. Some theorists believe that this type of “change” alters the drink and what it stands for, but I believe it’s just a minor preference.

The original Long Island Ice Tea possesses an array of fluent ingredients. Some of them include: Vodka, Tequila, Rum (White), Gin, Lemon Juice (or Sweet & Sour Mix) Grenadine, and Coke. The drink is combined directly into a highball glass with no shaking, but minimal mixing.

I decided to create my own, individually unique, rendition of the popular drink for the ultimate cocktail everyone can enjoy.

The Exotic Sarah Iced Tea

1 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Rum

1 oz. Gin

1 oz. Tequila

1 oz. Triple Sec.

1 oz. Amaretto

1 oz. Raspberry Liqueur

1 oz. Peach Schnapps

7 oz. Coke

1 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix/Lemon Mixture (optional)

1 splash of Grenadine (optional, although preferred)

Combine the Vodka, Rum, Gin, Tequila, Triple Sec., Amaretto, Raspberry Liqueur, Peach Schnapps, Coke, Sweet & Sour Mix/Lemon Mixture, and Grenadine into a chilled highball glass and mix. After you have mixed the drink, add a pineapple slice or maraschino cherry.

Drink recipes: Bloody Mary – Part 5

Bloody Mary is a popular spicy cocktail which is often referred to as a spicy long drink’. The amount of spices in the drink can be varied depending upon the taste of the person. It is referred to as a long drink as it is supposed to be enjoyed sip by sip over the entire duration of the meal. As a result, this cocktail in served in high ball glasses. A high ball glass’ is a tall glass which has a large volume of about 6-8 ounces. The exact origin about the drink is not known for sure but it is believed that it was invented in 1920 by an American bartender called Fernand Petiot. He invented the drink in Harry’s New York bar by mixing equal quantities of tomato juice with vodka. Later in 1934 he modified the drink in order to make it spicier by adding some flavorings like Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt and some lemon juice. The recipe nowadays usually consists of two ounces of vodka, some crushed ice and about 6 ounces of tomato juice. To this, 5 drops of Tabasco sauce, 6 dashes of Worchester sauce, dash of lemon juice and some freshly ground pepper and salt are added to make a total volume of about 8 ounces. After adding the above ingredients to a high ball glass the contents are stirred for about 30 seconds with a bar spoon. A bar spoon is a long spoon made up of steel which is used to mix contents in a tall glass.. The drink is garnished with a celery stick or a lemon wedge. Celery stick serves a dual purpose, firstly it infuses its flavor into the drink secondly it can be used for regularly shaking the drink in order to mix the ground pepper which gradually settles to the bottom if the drink is kept for too long. A popular variation of bloody Mary is virgin Mary’. Virgin Mary basically is a mock tail which contains all the ingredients present in bloody Mary, except vodka. The name bloody Mary most likely refers to the blood-like color of the cocktail. The drink probably got its name bloody Mary as the color of the drink is blood-like.

This recipe was told to me by my brother is a bartender in a popular 5 star Hotel in Scotland. To find different contemporary and classical recipes for this cocktail visit the website: http://www.drinksmix.net/

Sinful Spring Break Cocktails