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Irish Coffee

Credit: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ingredients

2 tsp brown sugar syrup
1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey
3 oz coffee
1 1/2 oz heavy cream, lightly whipped (technique below)
Serve in a traditional Irish coffee glass


Directions

Fill glass with hot water until it heats up, then dump out the hot water. Heat up brown sugar syrup, whiskey, and coffee, then add to glass. For the whipped cream, pour heavy cream into a mason jar and shake for 15 seconds, then gently spoon it on top of the drink.


Notes

This is just perfect, and the easiest Irish coffee I’ve made. Apparently sweetening the cream is a faux pas, and it turns out you don’t need to! The whipped cream technique is from Mr. Morgenthaler’s The Bar Book.

 
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La Bomba

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Joaquín Simó

Ingredients

2 oz rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
5 raspberries
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
raspberry garnish


Directions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Muddle the raspberries. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with raspberries.


Notes

Ok, these are just dangerous. I struggle with daiquiris sometimes, and here the added pomegranate molasses and raspberries add just enough to bring this drink right to the sweet-tart line.

 
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Enzoni

Credit: The Educated Barfly, citing Vincenzo Errico

Ingredients

1 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
7 grapes
grape garnish


Directions

Muddle the grapes with the other ingredients in a shaker tin. Shake and strain over a large ice cube. Garnish with grapes.


Notes

This is a favorite. It’s similar to a Negroni, but you’re swapping out vermouth for lemon juice, simple syrup, and grape. It’s so light and refreshing—perfect for summer! The color is gorgeous too, a deep, bright, pink. The green grapes I used were ok and this drink was still spectacular, so I can only imagine what it might taste like with ripe red or purple grapes.

 
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Bramble

Credit: Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, citing Dick Bradsell

Ingredients

2 oz St. George Botanivore Gin
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 clear syrup
1/2 oz Giffard Crème de Mûre
lemon and blackberry garnish


Directions

Shake gin, lemon juice, and syrup with ice and strain over a rocks glass with crushed ice. Drizzle the crème de mûre on top and garnish with lemon peel and blackberry.


Notes

This drink is summer in a glass, and it works just fine on a 70-degree day in February. My version was a bit sweeter, as I used Meyer lemons and 2:1 syrup. I wasn’t willing to spend money for out-of-season fruit (and the lemon twist was just fine), but in a few months I’ll have a good excuse to load up on blackberries.

Watch Dick Bradsell make his original cocktail, the Bramble.

 
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The Main Course

Credit: Napa Rose Lounge, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Resort Area

Ingredients

3/4 oz Bulleit Rye Whiskey
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Fernet Branca
1/4 oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
2-3 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
orange peel garnish


Directions

Shake and strain over ice. Garnish with orange peel after expressing the oils.


Notes

I made this at the request of a guest at our New Year’s Eve party. I thought it would be bitter and strong as heck with the Campari and Fernet, but it was magical!

 
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Fistful of Pears

Credit: St. George Spirits

Ingredients

1 oz St. George Pear Brandy
1 oz St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
1 oz Amaro Nonino
Meyer lemon peel


Directions

Build over ice. Squeeze Meyer lemon peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.


Notes

Fantastic enough to get me out of a blogging dry spell after 2 sips! I opened up the bottle of St. George Pear Brandy to enjoy on its own, and went to the website to check spelling, and happened to see this drink listed, so made it for my husband. It called for Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro and grapefruit zest, but worked with what I had and thought the Nonino and Meyer lemon would sub in well. An ode to pear. It’s late so I’m sticking with brandy, but there’s tomorrow and New Year’s Eve…

 
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Spiced Rum Old Fashioned

Ingredients

2 oz spiced rum
1/4 oz cinnamon syrup
2-3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
orange peel


Directions

Build in a glass and add an ice sphere. Squeeze orange peel over drink to release oils, then use as a garnish.


Notes

This might be my drink. It’s so smooth for being on the boozy side, and the cinnamon, orange, and spices from the rum play so well together. Perfect.

 
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Chartreuse Swizzle

Credit: Marcovaldo Dionysos

Ingredients

1 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
mint and nutmeg garnish


Directions

Add ingredients to a collins glass and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle with a lélé or bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts. Add more crushed ice, so there’s a layer of ice topping the drink. Serve with a straw. Garnish with a mint sprig and fresh nutmeg.


Notes

Oops, I forgot the garnish! Even so, wow, good ice work just makes this drink so awesome. I crushed the heck out of smaller ice cubes with a wooden mallet and my Lewis bag, and while I’m waiting for my lélê from Cocktail Kingdom, the bar spoon worked fine for swizzling, and it’s so fun seeing the glass frost up. The key is adding that top layer of crushed ice—it looks beautiful with so much ice packing the glass.

Moving on to the taste—herbal and tart—this would be a great drink for summer, but is perfectly fantastic before dinner in November.

…and didn’t note until after drinking this that Green Chartreuse is 55% ABV. So, be careful with this one!

 
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