Archive of ‘Brandy’ category

Blue Train, New Year’s Eve Cocktail

A toast to 2014, before we turn our thoughts to what’s new and next. For our final cocktail of the year, a riff on a fortified champagne or sparkler. Blue Train, narrow gauge 1/2 ounce brandy 1/2 ounce pineapple juice Chilled dry sparkling wine or Champagne Chill a martini or large coupe glass. Pour brandy […]

 

London NW3, rum cocktail

London Cocktail Week is producing some interesting conversation around taste and technique. While having a nicely balanced red wine and mint concoction at St. Bart’s, a pub and cocktail bar in Central London, we had the idea of coating a glass rim for this drink using a dark rum, bolstered by a touch of brandy […]

 

Knock Knock, brandy cocktail

Time for some call-and-response humor. Knock, knock. Who’s there? Waiter. Waiter who? Waiter you taste this cocktail. (We heard the groaning out there.) This easy to assemble sipper makes a pleasant after-dinner drink and could easily work before dinner, too. Knock Knock 1 1/2 ounces brandy 1/2 ounce Cointreau Chilled soda water Fill a wine […]

 

Seismic, brandy cocktail

We happened to be back home in San Francisco last Sunday morning when shock waves from an earthquake centered 60 miles north rolled through. At 3:20 a.m., it was a little too early and we may have been too shaken to create a cocktail. On firmer ground now, we’ve whipped up this recipe to encourage […]

 

Phoebe Snow, brandy cocktail

Phoebe Snow was an an early 1900s white-clad fictional character used to show how clean it was to travel on trains powered by anthracite coal. And then there is Phoebe Snow, the singer, song-writer and guitarist with crackling bluesy voice who died in 2011. Phoebe Snow 1 1/2 ounces brandy 1 1/2 ounces Dubonnet Rouge […]

 

Horse’s Neck, brandy cocktail

This cocktail belongs in the 1,2,3 and it’s done category. An American original, the first mention of the recipe dates to 1890s in New York City. While it calls for brandy as the spirit, it is often made with bourbon, rye or lighter Canadian whiskey. The visual signature is the long curl of lemon peel […]

 

Foudre, brandy cocktail

The inspiration for this drink comes from Jersey Lightning, a cocktail which calls for apple jack (distilled in New Jersey) or apple brandy. We’ve left out the apple and decreased the amount of lime to allow the traditional brandy and softness of the vermouth of show. We named it Foudre, French for lightning. Foudre 1 […]

 

NSA, secret cocktail

We can’t reveal anything about this Martini Monday cocktail, but we are listening to what you have to say. Actually, we’re hoping it becomes a popular drink at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. (Psst, is that Edward Snowden? What’s he drinking?) NSA 1 ounce vodka 1 ounce brandy 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur or almond syrup Pour the […]

 

Metropolitan, 1930s cocktail

Here’s a brandy based drink, created in the 1930s, that is at least a great-grandchild to the classic Manhattan. There are also those who claim the Cosmopolitan, created in New York in the 1990s, is an descendant of this drink. We find some difficulty following those blood lines. Metropolitan 2 ounces brandy 1/2 ounce sweet […]

 

Valencia, brandy cocktail

Valencia, California, was named after the hybridized orange grown there. But we are willing to ignore that and note that oranges are also grown in Valencia, on Spain’s Mediterranean Coast. They also distill very good brandy in Spain: Foundator; Carlos I; and Torres are popular brands. Today’s no-lime cocktail embraces both Valencias. Valencia 1 1/2 […]

 

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