Cointreau Fizz

Cointreau Fizz

Another perfect summer drink that has been tested already! Introducing the Cointreau Fizz. A perfect mix of both sweet and sour, getting a bottle of Cointreau just for these is worth the trouble!

• 5 cl Cointreau (triple sec)
• half a lime
• 10 cl club soda (carbonated water [not mineral water])

Cut the lime half into four pieces and muddle them in the glass. Then fill the glass with crushed ice, pour in the Cointreau and soda. Give the drink a few gentle stirs so the ingredients properly mix and top the cocktail with more ice, if needed. Add a straw and if you want to garnish this, a lime wedge will do just fine.

I didn't have a soda streamer so I had to get myself a bottle of fancy-ass carbonated water...you could substitute it with mineral water (pellegrino for instance), but the cocktail will soak in flavors from it. Thus if all able, prefer club soda.

Just let the sunshine in...

Irish Car Bomb

IRISH CAR BOMB

Continuing our beer cocktail show, here's another "classic" example how beer can be used in cocktails. Enter the Irish Car Bomb. Without going too much into the history of this drink, I just want to mention that the original version had Kahlúa instead of Baileys; this one is the more common one seen today:

• ½ a pint of Guinness
• 4 cl of Baileys Irish Cream
• 1 cl of Irish whiskey (I used Jameson, but any Irish blend will do fine)

Fill the shot glass with Baileys and layer the whiskey on top of it. Then drop that shot in the glass of Guinness and drink fast. Fast, because the baileys will curdle rather quickly (as seen in the last picture).

A really interesting drink. The nutty flavors from the baileys gave an excellent finish to this cocktail. The Irish Car bomb is a good party starter, a better dessert drink but most of all, a quick way to get wasted.

Black Velvet

BLACK VELVET

2013

Black velvet and that little boy's smile

Black velvet with that slow southern style

A new religion that'll bring her to your knees

Black velvet if you please

- Alannah Myles, Black Velvet

2016, three and a half years later

Introducing a beer cocktail, one of the few I personally know (along with the Snakebite), which proves to be a worthy drink indeed! Given, this drink's history goes back to the late 19th century, created to mourn the death of Prince Albert. Here's how to make one;

• Guinness (stout beer)
• Champagne

First pour the glass halfway with Guinness and then gently pour the Champagne (using the back of a [bar]spoon helps) along the side of the glass (or just tilt the glass enough) to create two separate layers, as shown in the picture.

For this cocktail I specifically wanted to by champagne, I had a small bottle of Baron-Fuenté Grande Reserve. To my surprise it had more sweetness to it than I had imagined. I enjoyed one of these with my good friend and given, as a layered cocktail this was very beautiful but having this mixed a little bit really gave this drink more taste.

I personally liked it. I did have some (negative) expectations how this would go down but yes, the combination did work well after all! I would say that  whether you want to have this with a good (chocolaty) dessert or just feeling fancy, trying one of these is definitely an experience you shouldn't miss.

Mah-jong

MAH-JONG

Greetings again! Tonight's cocktail has absolutely nothing to do with the Chinese game, but having one of these sure is (at least as much) fun!

Simple ingredients, only the decoration might take a little while to make:

• 4 cl gin
• 1 cl Cointreau
• 1 cl white rum
• a long orange peel

Combine the alcohols in a glass with plenty of ice and stir for about 20-30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass and here's the tricky part; the decoration.

Use a channel knife to cut a long strip of orange peel and swirl it into a spiral. Don't use a straw to twist the peel around it, it makes the peel look like a spring. Twisting it around itself e.g. on a cutting board gives better results; better looking.

But how did this taste? I'm not a huge fan of gin, but the cointreau gave just enough sweetness to it for me to enjoy it. The rum on the other hand, I couldn't really taste it at all.

Visually this is a very nice cocktail though! One of the most aesthetic cocktails I've made so far, no doubt about that!  

The Jägerbomb

JÄGERBOMB

Well, it's time for a Jägerdrink once again! One of the classic "drop a shot X in a glass of Y", the Jägerbomb is really one of the better ones out there. So what do you need for a perfect Jägerbomb?

• one shot of Jägermeister
• half a pint of energy drink

First fill a glass half way with energy drink as shown in the upper most left picture and ready yourself with a shot of Jägermeister. Now comes the bomb; drop the shot in the glass and drink!

A truly great party drink. You can also enjoy one these as a long drink, where you prepare a high ball glass full of ice, add the Jägermeister (I prefer ice cold) and top up with energy drink. No garnish necessary.

Prost!

Amaretto Sour

Amaretto Sour

In a perfect world, cocktails are perfect too. While I'm not a perfect cocktail mixologist, I strive to create cocktails that taste excellent, look amazing and leave a good impression to both the maker and the drinker. This is one of them...

The Amaretto Sour.

Inspired by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, I picked up the challenge and created an Amaretto Sour he perfected.

• 4.5 cl Amaretto
• 2.25 cl bourbon
• 3 cl fresh lemon juice
• 0.5 cl simple syrup
• 1.5 cl egg white (a tad less than one egg white whole, unless a small egg)

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker and dry shake first roughly for a little while. After this add plenty of ice and shake again. Double strain into a tumbler filled with ice. Decoration-wise, there are a few options proper for this cocktail; lemon/orange zest/wedge or a maraschino cherry.¨

As a big fan of Amaretto and a big fan of sours, this cocktail is almost as good as the Boston Sour, but still manages to plunge into my top cocktail list.

Caipirinha

CAIPIRINHA

Caipirinha in 2013

Caipirinha in 2016, pretty much exactly three years later

It all started in the summer, 2009, when I made this drink. Well, not per se, back then I made a Caipiroska where I substituted the Pitú needed to make this for vodka.

Almost four years after I now made the "original" version, the Caipirinha. Still as simple as ever, all you need is (love):

• 5 cl of Pitú (cachacha) (2016 version was Ypioca)
• ½ a lime, quartered + a wedge for garnish
• 2 - 2½ tea spoons of granulated cane sugar

Muddle the sugar, half a lime (which has been quartered) and the cachaca in a tumbler. Add some ice and in a churning kind-of-motion mix the ingredients. Add more ice if needed. Finally, stick a few straws and if you want to decorate your drink, a lime wedge will do the trick.

That's it! I really enjoyed the sweet-sour taste this cocktail has and the Pitú's distinctive flavor gives quite the edge to it! This is a good summer drink or better yet a small party drink, if you mind the work.

Editor's Note 2016:

This cocktail is the shit! After a proper Caipirinha a vodka-based -roska will never substitute this beauty! The perfect summer time's drink!

The Lemon Drop

The Lemon Drop

After a day break from cocktails (I was donating blood today so I can't have any alcohol the previous day) I  continue my work of cocktails with a drink that (supposedly) is rather (in)famous in the States. At least this is the picture I had when I first read about it. The recipe I used now could probably be tweaked into perfection; I found this cocktail to be mediocre...It...just didn't cut my top cocktail's list.

• 5 cl (Citron) flavored vodka
• 2 cl lemon juice
• 1 tea spoon granulated sugar

Combine these ingredients in a shaker, add ice and shake this cocktail longer than usually (because of the sugar that needs to be dissolved). (double)strain into a chilled cocktail glass and decorate with a lemon twist.

As said earlier, I can't really tell what's the "big deal" (if any) about this cocktail. Apparently this is supposed to taste like lemon drop candies, but...this wasn't really that good of a drink overall.

Classic Champange Cocktail

Classic Champagne Cocktail

It is time for a Monday after-work cocktail! The Classic Champagne Cocktail (CCC...okay I made that one up).

I admit I especially bought two champagne flutes in order to create this cocktail. Although I'm bigger fan of those "old fashioned champagne saucers", these kind of flutes are good for champagne cocktail making (and others too, as far as I know). Moreover, a tall flute is better at keeping the bubbles in the drink whereas the saucer's wideness releases those bubbles quicker.

But what is a classic champagne cocktail then? How does it differ from a "regular" champagne cocktail? One thing, for that matter. The cognac. A champagne cocktail consists of angostura bitters, one sugar cube and champagne (sparkling wine), a classic is made as follows:

• 30 ml cognac
• 1 sugar cube
• angostura bitters
• champagne to top off (or sparking wine like I did, preferrably brut [dry])
• a lemon twist for garnish

First pour in the cognac in the flute. Then add your champagne but leave some space for the sugar cube (it will make the cocktail foam a bit). Now here have some options how to soak our sugar cube in angostura. Some like to use a napkin and put the cube on it, add the angostura, wait a while and then drop it in the cocktail but you can also use this:

Hold the cube tightly on top of the angostura bottle and turn it once or twice to fully soak it. Remember to have a large enough cube to cover the whole bottle! (mine spilled a little bit). Then take the cube and drop it in the drink. The cocktail will foam but as you can see from the picture it looks very beautiful! Use a long lemon twist to garnish your master piece (cut the zest near the glass so the essential oils will spray to your drink) and there you have it, the 

Classic Champagne Cocktail. For any special occasion.

I liked this cocktail very much. The cognac rounded the sparking wine's taste perfectly + I especially liked how the dissolving sugar cube made the cocktail sweeter to the end!

The Passionate Benedict

THE PASSIONATE BENEDICT

Hello again! Here is a cocktail requested by my wife I personally ended up liking a lot. I call it the Passionate Benedict. I had to make her something new and on the sweeter side. Thanks to my good friend, who brought me a bottle of Passoã, I realized now was my chance. This version seen in the picture was my first try and with a small tweak here are the ingredients:

• 4 cl Passoa
• 1 cl D.O.M Benedictine herbal liquor
• 1 cl peach schnapps
• 6 cl orange/mango/passion juice
• lime wedge for garnish

The first time I had the ingredient amounts as follows: 4/2/2/8 but it ended up being a bit too much for the glass.

Simply fantastic. Even with only 1 cl of D.O.M, the herbal notes are still clearly tastable. The peach schnapps and Passoã give a nice exotic taste and the orange juice (in the picture it was a mix of orange/mango juice) lengthens the cocktail well. Not to mention how beautiful this cocktail is!

Although I say this from a cocktail I created on the spur of the moment, this was an excellent cocktail indeed!

Benton's Old Fashioned

BENTON'S OLD FASHIONED

(Molecular Mixology!)

This cocktail has been inspired by Jamie Boudreau and the PDT Cocktail Book (2011). What I did:

I fried a lot of bacon on the pan, collected the fat from it (picture 1) (I had to use clarified butter, I explain this later) and mixed it with a cup of Jim Beam bourbon. I let it sit in room temperature for an hour while mixing the concoction a few times (picture 2). After this I put the jar in the freezer for an hour freezing the fat part solid (picture 3). I removed the fat and used coffee filters to strain the now bacon fat - infused bourbon into a clean, sterile bottle (picture 4 and 5)

This bourbon I then used to make a Benton's Old Fashioned!

• 5 cl fat-infused bourbon
• 1 cl maple syrup
• dash angostura bitters
• orange zest/twist for garnish

Stir the ingredients well in the mixing glass. Strain into a tumbler filled with ice and garnish with a (flamed) orange zest.

I really liked this cocktail! I'm a big fan of Old Fashioneds and this cocktail really convinced me. I could clearly taste the bacon from the bourbon and the maple syrup's sweetness combined with the essential oils from the orange...nice.

Summa summarum, I had fun making a rather different kind of cocktail. If I ever were to do this again, I would use different kind of bacon and most likely an oven instead of a frying pan.

Manhattan

MANHATTAN

Another classic cocktail originating from the 19th century! The Manhattan! Similar to the Rob Roy, a Manhattan is a mix of whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters. I used Jim Beam bourbon in this one.

• 5 cl bourbon (Jim Beam)
• 2 cl sweet vermouth
• dash angostura bitters
• a cocktail cherry for garnish

In a glass, stir all of the ingredients with plenty of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cocktail cherry. 

A perfect mix. I really enjoyed this cocktail. The vermouth really compliments the bourbon! I personally think the Manhattan is a wonderful pre-dinner cocktail. In addition, like its Scottish cousin the Rob Roy, this cocktail can easily modified with dry vermouth or using both dry and sweet vermouth making it a Perfect Manhattan.