Cheerhattan

CHEERHATTAN

My input for the international competition!

Hey! Here's a cocktail and actually my input for the international Heering classics, which made it to the 2nd round! Since I love proper Manhattans, I wanted to make (as the rules were) a delicious twist to it (a classic). I call it the Cheerhattan. My train of thought went like this:

- Cheer (cocktails are a cheerful thing)

- heer as per "Heering"

- hattan as per the end of Manhattan

Funny and well-thought, eh? I thought the same :D Anyhow, I've made this drink a few times now and everytime it surprises me with deliciousness! Here's how it's done:

• 3.5 cl quality bourbon (I used Old Virginia 6yo)
• 2 cl Heering cherry liqueur
• 1.5 cl sweet red vermouth
• 1 bs chocolate-syrup (coffee-syrup)
• 1-2 ds bitters
• (1 ds cocoa bitters)
• orange twist

Excluding the garnish, stir everything with ice and strain into a well-chilled coupe/cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

BOOM!

If you think of it, what could go wrong? We have good bourbon, cherries, chocolate, spices...it's all there! If all else fails and I won't make it further down the competition, at least I've had a good run with this cocktail.

Blood and Sand part deux

BLOOD AND SAND

REVISITED

"The bull is not the beast! Look at the crowd! That is the real beast!"

- Garabato, Blood and Sand (1922)

So here we are revisiting an old cocktail buddy of ours, which I made roughly 5½ years ago, the Blood and Sand - cocktail. As we can clearly see from back then, I made a piss-poor job with it. But I've come wiser ever since :D Now using proper ingredients and more know-how, let's see how a GOOD Blood and Sand is done!

• 2 cl scotch (I used JW 12yo black, for my upcoming video I will try the Balvenie 12yo)
• 2 cl heering cherry brandy
• 2 cl sweet vermouth
• 2 cl (blood)orange juice, fresh

Shake everything with ice, strain and garnish with an orange peel. So after five years now and using proper vermouth, proper scotch, proper orange juice and proper cherry brandy, what do you think of the results? A proper cocktail. Mild-ish, sweet with distinct cherry flavor to it. At least a thousand times better than back then :D The best part? Change the scotch to something else (non-smoky!) and let the twist make wonders to your drink.

Toasted Almond (cocktail)

TOASTED ALMOND

(COCKTAIL)

Ever wanted to make the White Russian Great Again? :D Well, here's a fun "twist" nonetheless, with great flavors! I introduce to you the Toasted Almond (cocktail). Apparently everything in the States is BIG so I had to cut the measures in half to make mine, explained soon why. This creamy drink has easy-to-find ingredients, well-balanced and super easy to make:

• 1 part DiSaronno (amaretto)
• 1 part kahlúa
• 1 part cream

I used 3 cl each, seems that the friends abroad use 2 fl oz so that'll be 6 cl! :D Anyways, I shaked everything with ice and without straining poured the content into a tumbler. Feel free to add roasted almond chips to garnish.

I have to say, I prefer the shaking over building so every ingredient gets mixed well with each other. Needless to say, it worked. sweet-ish almondy-coffee taste is mellowed by the cream. Weightwatchers note, this is not a drink for you! For others, highly recommended!

Boulevardier

BOULEVARDIER

Finally. FI-NAL-LY! So here's truly a classic from the 1920-30's (citation needed :D), which IMHO lives up to its name. The Boulevardier (IBA) cocktail. Story goes, I wanted to make this drink for a long time now, but I was lacking quality sweet vermouth! After a long search, the Finnish retail store had three 375ml bottles in their web shop. I snatched them all! SCORE!

So the Boulevardier. Basically a Negroni with bourbon replacing gin. More to the sweet(er) side, spices, texture, aroma, the whole nine yards. Easy to make as well! One equal part of each ingredient!

• 1 part bourbon
• 1 part sweet vermouth
• 1 part campari
• 1 orange twist to garnish

Style 1: Stir with ice, strain into a chilled OF - glass, garnish and serve

Style 2: Build into a OF - glass filled with rocks, garnish and serve

I like the first style since it cuts the biggest edge and balanced the drink out perfectly. Moreover, this drink can easily be twisted by changing the ratios if one pleases. Taste-wise, oooh boy, this is the s¤%t! Delicious! My bourbon of choice was the Old Virginia 6yo, which fitted well since the bourbon itself isn't too sweet.

Highly recommended!