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!

Campari-OJ

CAMPARI-OJ

A classic

Hello and a HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE 2017! Another year has passed (right under our noses! :D) and to Celebrate this I thought of making one of the great classics of all time, the Campari-OJ!

Just as the Screwdriver, since this cocktail only has two ingredients the mixer does matter. Quality quality quality!

• 4 cl Campari
• OJ (quality)
• orange slice/wedge/twist as garnish

Or simply 1:2 ratios (Campari & OJ)

Build in a short tumbler filled with ice, garnish and serve. For me...I mean, the more I drink this the more I like it! Campari is not an entry-level liqueur due to its bitter taste but the OJ works magic here. One could argue "acquired taste" when it comes to this drink, but even now, as the ice melts a little and the Campari mixes in with the OJ, this cocktail becomes tight!

I wish everyone a happy New Year 2017! May it be filled with excellent cocktails, love and joy!

Americano

AMERICANO

Americano, 2012

Americano, 2013

Unlike Yolanda Be Cool and producer DCUP, today we do speak Americano! This is one of the more famous aperitifs so I had to give it a go. As I have mentioned earlier that I am not a big fan of bitter cocktails, especially those with Campari, but I just had to try this one and see if it lived up to its name.

First of all, what you need is:

• 3 cl Campari
• 3 cl Sweet Red Vermouth (Martini Rosso)
• Club soda
• An orange slice for garnish

Fill a tumbler (on-the-rocks-glass) with ice, pour both the campari and vermouth in the glass and top it off with club soda. Add a slice of orange for garnish.

That's it! As for the taste, I was a bit on the fence on this one. The club soda took most of the campari's edge off so it wasn't too bitter for my taste. The vermouth's sweetness gave this definite pre-dinner cocktail a nice touch, I admit. Just like the Campari Orange Passion I made a little while back, this cocktail had that sweetness which in my opinion helped a lot in making me like this drink. They're also super easy to make for a larger group of people, say as a beginning of an evening meal so I give the Americano a big thumbs up!

Some say Campari at its finest, I say close, but no cigar.

Campari Orange Passion

CAMPARI ORANGE PASSION

Beauty in a glass! This is a variation of the basic Campari & OJ I found from their site. For my taste, Campari & oj is a bit too bitter, given it works as a nice aperatif. This recipe has a sweetness in it and I did like this so much more, although creating it takes more time. But it is worth it:

• 2 slices of orange (or wedges)
• 1 tsp of brown sugar
• 4 cl Campari
• 12 cl orange juice
• crushed ice
• a maraschino cherry to garnish

Take the orange slices and drop them in the high ball glass. Add the sugar and muddle gently. Then add the crushed ice, campari and orange juice and give it a gentle stir. Top it off with a bit more ice and top this cocktail with a cherry and a straw.

Now that summer is close(r) by, having one of these babies outside...wonderful.