Cocktail Formulae

[slkinsey]

Reading many of the cocktail recipes in Dave's new book got me to thinking about cocktail formulae. As the reader will note, many of the recipes in the book are not recipes at all, but rather generic formulae. For example, the Improved [spirit] cocktail consists of 2 ounces of spirit, 1 teaspoon of simple, 1/2 teaspoon of maraschino liqueur, a few dashes of absinthe and a few dashes of bitters. Plug your spirit into the formula, and you've got your cocktail.

Other mixologists have favorite ratios and formulae that they like to use. Here's another one I picked up from Dave:

2 ounces of spirit

1 ounce of aromatized wine (vermouth, lillet, etc.)

1 teaspoon of liqueur

1-2 dashes of bitters.

Dave's Weeski follows this formula (2 ounces irish, 1 ounce Lillet blonde, 1 teaspoon Cointreau, orange bitters), and I have found it to be a good one.

An extension of this idea is:

2 ounces of spirit

3/4 ounce of aromatized wine

1 teaspoon of liqueur

1 teaspoon of some other liqueur

1-2 dashes of bitters

Another formula I have found useful is:

2 ounces of spirit

1/2 ounce of citrus

1/2 ounce of something sweet (either simple or liqueur)

Bitters optional

These modifiers can be increased to 3/4 of an ounce, or even a full ounce. Add an egg white if you like.

People have enjoyed playing with the Vieux Carre formula:

1 ounce of spirit

1 ounce of some other spirit

1 ounce of vermouth

1 teaspoon herbal liqueur

1-2 dashes of 1-2 different bitters

Any other favorites?

[jsmeeker]

I like the 3-2-1 ratio for sours

3 parts spirit

2 parts for the sweet

1 part for the sour

Lots of good cocktails seems to fit into this formula.

[thirtyoneknots]

I especially enjoy fooling around with the 2:1:tsp format, lets call it the Manhattan Spoon The format for the original 1916 Aviation has been fun lately as well, merely your third formula adjusted slightly to 2 oz spirit, 3/4 oz citrus, 1 tsp liqueur (or syrup, I suppose), 1 tsp other liqueur/syrup. Bitters optional. I personally find the 3:2:1 too sweet, 2:1:1 or 4:1:1 being more enjoyable in most applications, except where it pays to up the acid and cut the sweet to dry the drink out (or to control a powerful ingredient, as in the Aviation). Seems like there's another one that I'm forgetting at the moment, but there you have it.

Edit to add: Remembered it; the Negroni/Bijou/De la Louisiane formula: equal parts of a spirit, a wine, and a liqueur, bitters optional. Works best when the liqueur in question is not too sweet and/or is high in proof (or is a bitter aperitif in its own right, eg Campari). In my experience these often result in rich drinks that are beautiful showcases for the liqueurs in use. Of course they don't work every time (sorry, but the Old Pal tastes like a train wreck to me, and I love all those ingredients).

Edited February 28, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)