June 09, 2016 at 11:17PM
Nightcap. A little something I call a California Sunset. #cocktail #mixology
June 09, 2016 at 11:17PM
Tag: luxardo
Last Word, Cocktail of the Week
The Last Word, according to Ted Saucier, was created in the early 20th century in Detroit. The first mention of it is being served at the Detroit Athletic Club (where it is still served by the way!) the drink made its way to New York thanks to a vaudeville actor and remained popular until World War 2. After the war though the drink fell off the map, forgotten until “rediscovered” in the early 2000s by a bartender at the Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle. From there it spread across the country and inspired other cocktails, the most famous being the “Final Ward” which swaps out the gin for rye whiskey and the limes for lemons.
Last Word
- One part gin
- One part lime juice
- One part green Chartreuse
- One part maraschino liquor
Fill shaker with ice. Add all ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
The Last Word is an interesting cocktail, equal parts of three liquors and lime juice. One is herbal, one is sweet, one is sour, and one is pungent. Looking at the recipe you wouldn’t think it would work. It SHOULDN’T work. This cocktail is a mess. Yet, it does. It’s a perfectly balanced drink. Sharp and contrasting flavors combine into a lovely drink that goes down smooth and is easy on the eyes. Cheers!
Jockey Club, Cocktail of the Week
There was a time when the Manhattan cocktail was brand new. A time when hip drinkers would walk into a bar ask for the drink and get a blank stare back from their bartender. In those earliest days of the cocktail there was still variation in the recipe and looking through old bartending guides one can find recipes for the cocktail that included Maraschino liqueur or Curacao. In time as the cocktail settled into the form we know today those alternatives took on other names. The Jockey Club is one of those variants, excluding bitters and adding a small amount of Maraschino liqueur.
Jockey Club
- 1 1/2 oz. bourbon
- 1 oz. sweet vermouth
- 1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur
Add ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
The Jockey Club, as one would expect considering its history, is a lot like a Manhattan. And that isn’t a bad thing. The real difference is that there is a herbally, cherry sweetness that lingers in the mouth that you won’t find when drinking a Manhattan. Both though will instill a bit a warmth in your throat and chest though. Just the sort of thing you’d want on a cool Autumn evening.
Cocktail of the Week – Brooklyn
Sometime in the late 1800s the Manhattan had a cocktail named after it. A pretty good cocktail. At the turn of the century the Bronx also had a cocktail named after it. And at that point the borough of Brooklyn (it had been its own city until 1898) had to get involved. It too needed to have a cocktail named after itself. Eventually all five boroughs would have one (I’ll be doing all of them here…) The truth is that there have been many Brooklyn cocktails. All trying to live up, or really surpass, the Manhattan in taste and class. None have really come close, many have been very bad. The most popular, or the one that has lasted the longest, none of them have been particularly popular is the cocktail created by Jacob Grohusko. But much to the chagrin of Brooklynites is the fact that Jacob lived in Hoboken and worked in lower Manhattan… Despite all that it is the cocktail bearing the name of the beloved borough that has had the most staying power. Also, if you bother to look up all the alternatives it is the one that by far tastes the best.
Brooklyn
- 2 oz. rye whiskey
- 1 oz. dry vermouth
- 1/4 oz. Maraschino liqueur
- dash of Angostura bitters
Combine all ingredients with ice. Stir. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cherry.
Don’t try ordering a Brooklyn at your local bar, you’ll just end up having to describe the drink to them and then the bartender, well-intended or not, will invariably mess it up and you’ll end up with sub-par cocktail. Sadly, the fact is that the only cocktail a bartender will know out of the five New York City boroughs is the Manhattan. If you take the time, and money to make this yourself at home you’ll be pleasantly surprised! The Brooklyn is a delicious, warming and sweet cocktail that just can’t seem to catch on or match the polish of Manhattan…
But, seeing as Manhattan is the location of Wall St., my mom is from Brooklyn, and I come from a long line of unpolished blue collar workers I’ll take the Brooklyn every time over a Manhattan.