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Remember the… er…
A look at a drink from Charles H Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion, the Remember the Maine, which I tried last year and then promptly managed to forget. Two separate occasions whilst I was out in the US brought it back to my attention in two different forms, and I now won’t be forgetting either in a hurry.
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Brooklyn
During my trip to the States in July I sampled many a cocktail, but the Brooklyn really stood out amongst the others. A variation on the Manhattan that introduces Amer Picon and Maraschino to make things a little more interesting, I enjoyed it so much that while I only ever had one it has become the cocktail that reminds me most of my tours around the bars of New York.
Mud Puddle Books
Making classic cocktails can become an expensive hobby, and aside from exotic aged spirits one of the most pricey luxuries is the classic cocktail book. Regularly reaching many hundreds of dollars on eBay, these classic volumes are now being released to a brand new audience thanks to Mud Puddle Books.
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Vieux Carré
With less than a week to go until Tales of the Cocktail, I get in to the New Orleans mood with a classic cocktail invented in the city, the Vieux Carré. Created at the Hotel Monteleone in 1938 this drink makes for a perfect pre-Tales warm up drink. Between this and the Sazerac New Orleans has a lot to be proud of!
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Fizzy eggs
Easter is just around the corner, and I’ve got eggs on my mind. To the surprise of many people eggs make for a great ingredient in quite a few cocktails, giving the drink a lovely texture and an attractive head of foam. Despite what government health campaigns may have convinced you, the dangers of using [...]
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MxMO – Variations
It’s that time again! Mixology Monday is this month hosted by Jimmy over at Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour, and has the theme of “variations”. This immediately conjured up lots of ideas, mainly based around recipe comparisons, but as they have become something of a regular item here I wanted to come up with an entry that [...]
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Sazerac
A true classic, born in New Orleans, the Sazerac has survived many years and a change in base spirit to remain one of the finest cocktails ever invented. From the Cognac-based original invented by John B. Schiller, to the modern rye recipe espoused by Thomas H. Handy, find out what makes this classic drink.
MxMO – Repeal Day
This month Mixology Monday, hosted by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, is all about Repeal Day – the celebration of the end of prohibition in the United States. For thirteen years consumption of alcohol for non-medical purposes was banned in the States, leading millions of Americans to willingly break the law by frequenting speakeasies, and giving cause for [...]
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Bénédictine
Bénédictine is a brandy-based herbal liqueur flavoured using 27 plants and spices. It was first formulated in 1510 by Dom Bernardo Vincelli, a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Fécamp. The liqueur was made here for almost 300 years as a tonic to aid the monks, until the French Revolution destroyed the monastery and put [...]
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Manhattan
The Dry Martini and the Manhattan are the most famous of all classic cocktails. Most people, even if they have never experienced the joy of drinking one, will have at least heard their names in passing. As Robert Hess recently pointed out, despite first appearances the two drinks actually share a lot in common. Indeed, [...]
