Got home from work late tonight – I feel like something simple that doesn’t require too much effort (and I’ve got to use the Maraschino cherries before they go bad) so I’m fixin’ myself one of my “go-to” after work cocktails – the Manhattan. This recipe comes from Ben Reed’s Cool Cocktails book.

The Manhattan (Ben Reed’s “Perfect” version)

2 ounces Rye Whisky
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
dash of Angostura Bitters
Maraschino cherry for garnish.

Shake over ice, decant into pre-chilled Martini glass. You *DO* have a Martini glass in the freezer, don’t you? I hope so. Savage. Plunk in the cherry once the ‘Tini is decanted.
Cheers,

JJ.

Back from Comic-Con! Sorry for the lack of updates. Had a great time and met a load of cool people at the Diggnation taping. It’s time to shake off the pop culture dust with a drink from the vault.

This one comes from one of the oldest books in my collection; it’s a spiral bound tiny little thing from the “Pink Elephants” line (which fetch a pretty penny on Ebay) and was printed in 1952. It’s got a load of old classics which can be a nice change of pace.

This one is to be served in a cocktail glass; something I almost never use. They’re just so…tiny. I mean, the heft of a Tiki mug… the sexy allure of a nice tall Collins… compared to them, the little dinky shot-glass on a stem just seems to look dorky. But hey, that trip down memory lane? It’s free, and we don’t even need a passport.

The Ideal Cocktail

1 ounce. dry Gin
1/2 ounce Grapefruit Juice
1/2 ounce dry Vermouth
1 teaspoon of fine sugar (a bit less than quarter ounce of simple syrup would probably work as well – I never seem to have any fine sugar on hand)
3 dashes Angostura bitters

The book says to “shake with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass dressed with a cherry”.

Consider the “Ideal” a cocktail vacation from our usual rum-chugging antics.

Enjoy!

Here’s a modern spin of an old classic from the good people who bring you the always excellent Diffords Guides to Drinking (they also sell cocktail books, like this one which are FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. The Diffords cocktails books are GREAT, and they also sell quarterly “publications” from their webpage (“publications” is a loose term – they’re basically 300-some page softcover books) which list the best bars around the world, have even MORE drink recipes and loads of bartending tips, booze reviews, and the like. Big thumbs up for Diffords.

Anyhow, this recipe is one the Diffords Gang adapted from a recipe pulled out of the long-out-of-print The Savoy Cocktail Book (it’s from the 1930′s) by Harry Craddock – which is damned near impossible to find, unless you want to pay three hundred bucks.

Enjoy.

The Lutkins Special Martini

1 1/2 ounces of Plymouth Gin
1 ounce of Dry Vermouth
1/2 ounce Apricot Brandy (they recommend the Bols Liqueur one)
3/4 ounce of freshly squeezed orange juice

As we do with Martinis – chill the glass, fresh ice in the shaker, vavoom vavoom, decant into chilled glass. Garnish with a twist of orange zest.

A classic, reborn!

Cheers,

JJ.