Friday! Time to learn about some cocktails

Old Fashioned

(I'll explain why I use each recipe, qualifications at the bottom)

2 Oz. Rye Whiskey
1 Demerara Sugar Cube
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
Garnish: 1 Orange Twist

Place the sugar cube into the bottom of an Old Fashioned glass (oddly enough), dash the bitters and a small splash of water over the sugar and muddle with the back of a bar spoon (sugar cubes tend to cut up wooden muddlers). Add the rye and one large or a few medium sized cubes, stir with the bar spoon for 15-20 seconds. Zest orange over the top of the glass and discard or add to the drink.

I should start with this as it's recently surpassed the Manhattan as the most requested cocktail in America. This was popularized off the original 'cocktail' recipe: spirit, sugar and bitters. With some contention, the first use of the label Old Fashioned came from a bartender The Pendennis Club, founded in Louisville, KY in 1881 who later brought the drink to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC. Versions of the cocktail from the 19th century were popularized with American whiskey, mostly Rye and eventually Bourbon. In some parts of America (Wisconsin and Minnesota), brandy is used as the base spirit. I prefer rye over bourbon in the Old Fashioned, because we're adding a decent amount of sugar and bourbon already runs sweet while rye has a spiciness to it. Towards the latter half of the 20th century people started adding orange wedges, maraschino cherries, club soda and other unnecessary crap to cover up inferior spirits. I think Old Overholt Rye makes for the best old fashioned as it's soft body easily molds with the rough sugar. Angostura is your most standard aromatic bitters, although Death & Co. uses 2 parts angostura and one part Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters and it's also pretty damn good.

Manhattan

2 1/2 oz. Bonded Rye Whiskey
3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Garnish: Brandied Cherry

Stir all ingredients over ice about 15 seconds and slowly strain into a coupe ensuring no bubbles form from an aggressive pour (or martini glass if you don't have one). Drop the brandied cherry in the center.

The popular Manhattan story that I prefer is that it originated in the Manhattan Club in NYC from early 1870, invented by Dr. Lain Marshall for a party held by Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill's mom). During prohibition canadian whiskey was typically used instead of the original rye, considering we weren't distilling rye. You should use an overproof (90 proof or higher) spirit, I prefer rye that was bottled in bond. Bonded whiskey must be the product of one distillery from one distilling season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse at least 4 years and then bottled at a minimum 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume). My preferred rye is Rittenhouse, it's going to be higher proof and spicier than the Old Overholt I referred to in the Old Fashioned recipe, but it will make a damn fine Manhattan. For the vermouth my house blend is equal parts Dolin Rouge and Punt E Mes, although Dolin Rouge or Carpano Antica would be fine to use on their own. (You stir this drink longer than most because it's heavy on spirits so you're trying to dilute more water into the drink than in other cocktails.

Negroni

1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
Garnish: Orange twist

Stir all the ingredients over ice about 12 seconds, slowly strain into a double rocks glass over ice. Zest the orange over the top of the glass, rub the peel side around the rim and drop into the drink.

If you know this cocktail you may be yelling at me because the original cocktail calls for equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth. Over time our taste for cocktails has become more dry and this is closer to the version you'd get at any random cocktail bar. This is a great way to introduce bitterness to your palate if you haven't gone into the realm of amari yet (Italian bitter liqueurs). My history is more cloudy on this one but the cocktail probably comes from Florence in the early 20th century, though there is a contested claim that it comes from Corsica that I choose to ignore. For you gin use a London Dry style, I typically use Beefeater as my go to, and it works especially well here with the campari (bitter orange) since one of Beefeater's primary botanicals is orange peel. My house sweet vermouth is mentioned above in the Manhattan recipe, but you could also use Dolin Rouge or Carpano Antica by itself.

Swap bourbon for gin and it's called a Boulevardier, use Rye and it's called an Old Pal, serve it in a Collin's glass with soda and it's an Americano.

Martini

2 1/2 oz. Plymouth of London Dry gin
3/4 oz. Dolin Dry Vermouth
1 dash Orange Bitters
Garnish: Lemon twist

STIR all ingredients over ice, then slowly strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

This is one where most people will have their preferences set in stone. First off it is a gin drink, although Americans started to prefer vodka to gin in the 1960/70s because it was new and the older generations drank gin. (Anti vodka rant: (In any bar I've worked we never have vodka cocktails because there is always a more interesting spirit you can use. If vodka is your preferred spirit, then cocktails probably aren't your thing. Vodka is a neutral spirit, and anything distilled in America must, by law, be: flavorless, colorless and oderless. European vodkas can be different in body and taste, but still make the most remarkably boring cocktails (besides Zubrowka styled vodkas from Poland))). Secondly is that this is a stirred drink NOT shaken. Drinks that only have spirits are stirred over ice to blend the ingredients and dilute with water as the ice melts, without adding air into the drink. You shake drinks with ingredients that need a more violent process to blend, these include :citrus, cream, egg whites, muddled fruit. People somehow think that shaking the drink instead of stirring makes it colder, which is incorrect, or they heard James Bond order it this way. Next is my ratio, try this ratio of spirit to vermouth first and you can use more or less vermouth the second time, making it more sweet or dry respectively. Use your preferred London Dry or use Plymouth, my standard is Beefeater but often people prefer the botanicals in Tanqueray in a martini. Dolin dry will stand up to these higher proof gins just fine, and don't forget the single dash of Orange Bitters: This was from the original recipes in the 19th century, try one with and one without and you'll understand why.

Daiquiri

(secretly a favorite)

2 oz. White Rum
1 oz. Lime Juice
3/4 oz. Simple Syrup
Garnish: Lime wheel

Shake all ingredients with ice about 11 seconds, strain into a coupe. Float lime wheel into the center of the drink.

The daiquiri is a cuban cocktail that picked up popularity in the US around the turn of the 20th century. Daiquiris are a very delicate balance of citrus from the lime juice and sweetness from the rum and sugar. Whenever I audition bartenders I'll have them make me this drink, and if I'm at a new cocktail bar it'll usually be the 2nd or 3rd drink I order. The point of the drink is to make it as cold as possible without over diluting it with water, and as refreshing as possible without it being to sweet. Use a dry or extra dry white rum, my go to is Flor de Cana Extra-Dry or Mount Gay.

DERBY BONUS: The Mint Julep

Bonus for this weekend especially.

2 oz. Bourbon
1/4 oz. Simple Syrup
Garnish: Mint bouquet

(These instructions are for a julep tin, I understand not everybody will have this or any other metal glass, but a nicely frosted julep tin is some magic you should experience)

Pour bourbon and simple syrup in a julep tin. Fill halfway with crushed ice. Stir with a small spoon for about 10 seconds, churning ice as you go, holding the tin by the rim so the entire tin can eventually frost. Add more crushed ice to fill the drink 2/3 fill and stir until the entire tin frosts over. Round off the top with a mound of ice above the rim. Stick the bouquet of mint in the center and insert a short straw in front of that. The idea here is every time you go for a sip the freshness of the mint literally hits you in the face.

Over the two day period at the derby this year more than 130,000 of these guys will be sold, which is kinda badass. However, the contractual whiskey used is Early Times, which is technically sold as a Kentucky Whiskey and not a Bourbon. I'd go for Buffalo Trace bourbon, but other reputable juleps are made with Baker's or Elijah Craig 12.