Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2007–2008)

[brinza]

It doesn't seem any worse than Benedictine, Drambuie, or whatever, espcially if chilled. I could see 2 parts Martinique rhum and 1 part Punsch as sort of a weird Rusty Nail translation that would work after dinner.

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Interesting observation. Dr. Cocktail in his Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails remarked that Swedish Punsch is to rum what Drambuie is to Scotch.

I wonder if there is a name for the specific classification of drinks (I don't think this is one of Gary Regan's drink families, unless it's covered in Duos), wherein a liqueur is mixed with the same spirit that is used as the base of the liqueur, e.g. Rusty Nail, B & B, French Connection #2 (Grand Marnier and cognac), and even rum and Punsch would be included. Are there others that follow this formula?

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I believe he lists them as "Duos and Trios"

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Thanks. That's why I spoke cautiously because I don't have the book with me and I wasn't sure.

[Chris Amirault]

Duos for Regan are just "two ingredients, usually a base spirit and a liqueur, [that] are normally served in an old-fashioned glass." I think that "liqueur ... mixed with the same spirit that is used as the base of the liqueur" is a subset of Regan's duos.

[eje]

Grapefruit Cocktail

(6 People)

The Juice of 1 1/2 Lemons. (Juice 1/2 lemon, almost an ounce)

2 Small Spoonsful Grapefruit Jelly. (1 barspoon Duerr's Grapefruit Marmalade)

4 Glasses Gin. (2 oz Tanqueray)

Add Ice and shake. (Squeeze Grapefruit peel on top. - eje) One may in this Cocktail replace the grapefruit jelly by any other Fruit Jelly of distinctive taste.

Really quite tasty!

I had to go a bit long on the Marmalade to cut the sourness of the lemon juice.

[eje]

Grapefruit Cocktail (variation)

(6 People)

The following Cocktail although apparently harmless, is sometimes liable to be snappy. It is a variation of the Grapefruit Cocktail:- Take three and a half glasses of Gin (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin) and the juice of 1 1/2 good-sized Grapefruit (1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed white grapefruit juice). Sugar to taste (1 tsp caster sugar), plenty of ice. Shake and serve.

This was good, but I used too much sugar. A half teaspoon (or less) would have been plenty.

[eje]

Great Secret Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters.

1/3 Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Cocchi Americano)

2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

Very tasty!

Pretty close to a Vesper, eh?

I suppose if you were stuck with using Tanqueray or Gordon's it might make sense to cut the gin with a bit of vodka.

But if you're using Plymouth, I see no reason.

[thirtyoneknots]

Great Secret Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters.

1/3 Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Cocchi Americano)

2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

Very tasty!

Pretty close to a Vesper, eh?

I suppose if you were stuck with using Tanqueray or Gordon's it might make sense to cut the gin with a bit of vodka.

But if you're using Plymouth, I see no reason.

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With the way Quinquinas behave with gin, I can only assume the 'Great Secret' is that there's actually liquor in this?

[bostonapothecary]

Great Secret Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters.

1/3 Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Cocchi Americano)

2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

Very tasty!

Pretty close to a Vesper, eh?

I suppose if you were stuck with using Tanqueray or Gordon's it might make sense to cut the gin with a bit of vodka.

But if you're using Plymouth, I see no reason.

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With the way Quinquinas behave with gin, I can only assume the 'Great Secret' is that there's actually liquor in this?

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its like a gin and tonic for more ambitious people... take that how you will...

[eje]

Greenbriar Cocktail.

1 Dash Peach Bitters. (Fee's Peach Bitters)

1/3 French vermouth. (3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)

2/3 Sherry. (Bodega Dios Baco Fino Sherry)

1 Sprig Fresh Mint.

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Garnish with Mint tip.)

Pretty weird, and the peach bitters and mint make it seem awfully girly, but not unpleasant. Somehow, I could imagine the Greenbriar going well with Middle Eastern food. Especially Feta Cheese and maybe Baba Ghanoush. Not sure exactly why.

[eje]

Green Dragon Cocktail

1/8 Lemon Juice. (1/4 oz Lemon Juice)

1/8 Kummel. (1/4 oz Gilka Kummel)

1/4 Green Mint. (1/2 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe)

1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Beefeater's Gin)

4 Dashes Peach Bitters. (Fee's Peach Bitters)

Shake (stir, shake, what's it matter?) well and strain into cocktail glass.

I still haven't taken the plunge and purchased "Green Mint," so I guess this is a "Silver Dragon".

In any case, talk about wacky. I mean, it's not an unbalanced or undrinkable cocktail. Just really weird.

The Mint and Peach are the dominant elements here with everything else hanging in the background.

I didn't throw it away. I just can't imagine any possible circumstances where I would make it again.

[eje]

Green Room Cocktail

1/3 Brandy. (3/4 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangac)

2/3 French Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)

2 Dashes Curacao. (2/3 barspoon Senior Curacao of Curacao)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Orange Twist.)

This Cocktail, a great favourite with mummers, is an excellent " pick-me-up."

The "Green Room" is the room actors hang out in when not on stage. Of course, not uncommon for a fortifying nip to be taken before one heads out on stage.

I had thought the term "Green Room" was to do with television. I was interested to discover that that the term's first recorded use* was in 1701!

edit - "Mummer" is not just the name of one of my favorite XTC album, it also is a term used to refer to actors. That term goes back even further than "Green Room," having it's origins, according to dictionary.com, with the traveling troupes of actors in the 1400s.

A pleasant enough cocktail. Certainly cried out for some bitters and a twist.

*From Word Origins.org:

Green Room

I do know London pretty well, and the Side-box, Sir, and behind the Scenes; ay, and the Green-Room, and all the Girls and Women Actresses there.

Edited April 25, 2008 by eje (log)

[eje]

Grenadier Cocktail

1 Dash Jamaica Ginger. (6 drops Eclectic Institute Ginger Herbal Extract)

1/3 Ginger Brandy. (3/4 oz Canton Ginger Liqueur)

2/3 Brandy. (1 1/2 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangac)

1 Teaspoonful Powdered Sugar. (1/2 teaspoon Rich Simple Syrup)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Brandied Cherry wrapped in ginger slice.)

One of my favorite descriptions from the Cocktaildb is that of "Jamaica Ginger":

Defunct generic USP grade liquid ginger compound used medicinally as an antispasmodic and in drinks as a ginger flavoring, added in dashes. Prohibition saw Jamaica ginger abused in much larger quantities as an additive to "bathtub gin" and other crudely-distilled and foul-tasting products prepared for scofflaw drinkers. This often led to cases of temporary semi-paralysis, known as "jake-leg", an ironic variation of the term "jack-leg", meaning the stagger around without control.

Figure the Ginger Herbal Extract from the hippie coop is about equivalent.

According to wikipedia, "A grenadier (French for "Grenademan") was originally a specialized assault soldier for siege operations, first established as a distinct role in the mid to late 17th century. Grenadiers were soldiers who would throw grenades and storm breaches, leading the forefront of such a breakthrough."

After all that drama I dunno if this cocktail is quite all that menacing. It's got a little heat from the ginger extract and is a pleasant enough use of Brandy. The ginger wrapped cherry does act pretty grenade-like.

[thirtyoneknots]

I think the Indian Army has a Grenadier unit of some note that has been around since colonial times, could explain the ginger connection.

ETA: 101st Grenadiers on Wikipedia

Edited April 26, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[TVC]

More on Jamaican ginger extract...

QUOTE(What is Jake?

Jake is actually Jamacian ginger extract @ marketed and sold as a medicinal tonic for any number of ills. It was available in the United States since about the time of the Civil War, and Americans quickly realized that the nearly 70% alcohol content made "the jake" a way to skirt local or federal laws banning the consumption of liquor. Compared to whiskey, jake was often cheaper, and often had a higher alcohol content. Many drug stores sold Coca-Cola or coffee, which people would then use as mixers for the jake, often using a side room in the store to concoct their drink.

Jake sold between 1920 and 1930 caused no health problems. In the spring of 1930, however, the manufacturers of jake decided to add a new ingredient, an industrial chemical called tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate.

The new ingredient was added to help adulter, or water down, the jake. It was tasteless, soluble with alcohol, and cheap. It also turned out to be highly toxic, particularly to the spinal cord. )

Jake Walk link

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[eje]

Here's an odd coincidence...

From today's NY Times:

Cocktails and Cheddar, Jessica Grose

ON any given evening in Carroll Gardens, several neighborhood denizens will stop on Brooklyn’s bustling Smith Street in front of the JakeWalk’s large picture window, peering into the smallish, packed rectangular bar....While the cured meat and cheese offerings (including fondue) are a major pull for locals, the potent cocktails and free-flowing whiskey certainly add to the JakeWalk’s allure. (The bar is named for the wonky walk induced by drinking jake liquor, a kind of moonshine made from Jamaican ginger and served in pre-21st Amendment dives.)

And yes, I picked the alcohol based Ginger Extract at the hippie store, 70% alcohol, no tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate, however...

[eje]

Guard’s Cocktail

2 Dashes Curacao. (scant barspoon Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/3 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth)

2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin)

(dash Regan's Orange Bitters)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass.

Odd how cocktails with similar ingredients sometimes pile up. Just a bit ago we had two cocktails in a row involving peach bitters and mint. The next three cocktails are all Gin and Sweet Vermouth.

Just got this Vya Sweet Vermouth and am still deciding what I think. So far, in this cocktail, it's not really grabbing me. I think I need to try it side by side with Dolin Sweet and Carpano Antica and maybe in some Manhattans.

[thirtyoneknots]

The Vya is a case of diminishing returns for me, is it good? Yeah, it's good. Is it 3x better than Martini & Rossi? Not a chance. In fact even if they were the same price I'd still probably be buying the M&R. Now this is for the sweet, I found the dry to be even more disappointing; way too assertive to use in anything but a Martini. The Carpano Antica I would love to try but it doesn't seem to be distributed in the state, and its out of stock in every city I have a friend travelling in

[bostonapothecary]

Guard’s Cocktail

2 Dashes Curacao. (scant barspoon Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/3 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth)

2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin)

(dash Regan's Orange Bitters)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass.

Odd how cocktails with similar ingredients sometimes pile up.  Just a bit ago we had two cocktails in a row involving peach bitters and mint.  The next three cocktails are all Gin and Sweet Vermouth.

Just got this Vya Sweet Vermouth and am still deciding what I think.  So far, in this cocktail, it's not really grabbing me.  I think I need to try it side by side with Dolin Sweet and Carpano Antica and maybe in some Manhattans.

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the disclosed vya sweet vermouth botonicla formula isn't very interesting... kinda tame... being a moscat expert quady is probably the best potential producer of vermouth... has anybody ever talked to that winery?

the have a new aromatized wine out called "deviation"... so far i haven't seen it around anywhere...

[eje]

Gypsy Cocktail

1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth)

1/2 Plymouth Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Navy Strength Gin)

Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Lemon Peel.)

I haven't found Plymouth Gin to stand up particularly well against Dry Vermouth in Fifty-Fifty type cocktails, let alone sweet vermouth, so I thought the Gypsy might be a fine opportunity to call in the big guns.

The Plymouth Gypsy was really quite good, I have to say. Really kicked up the smell of the gin, vermouth, and lemon twist. But I wouldn't recommend making any serious commitments for the rest of the evening, if you're going to start out on this level...

There are a bunch of Cocktails that go by the name "Gypsy". The most famous is probably the Vodka Gypsy: 1 3/4 oz Vodka, 3/4 oz Benedictine, and a dash of Aromatic Bitters. The next most famous is probably Dominick Venegas' Gypsy: 1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin, 3/4 oz St. Germain, 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse, and 1/2 oz Lime Juice. I haven't tried the Vodka Gypsy, but Mr. Venegas' St. Germain drink is quite tasty.

[eje]

Yeah, I'm still undecided.

My current inclination is to say they put too much flavor in the Dry and not enough in the Sweet. Though, in general, I feel like my problem with the Dry isn't so much the flavorings as the wine base.

[eje]

Another letter down!

The letter "G" started with two fairly deadly Absinthe Cocktails, the Gangadine and the Gasper. Ouch.

The first really tasty cocktail, The Genevieve contained the mystery ingredient "Hercules." Unfortunately, between making the cocktail, and posting it, new information arose, completely blowing my interpretation. I still think it is probably tastier the way I made it!

Our first true classic cocktail in "G" was the Gibson. Even though I normally enjoy pickled onions, I have to say I preferred a plain old Martini with orange bitters a lemon twist to the inclusion of the onion.

There was some appreciation for the Gilroy Cocktail though I have to admit when I tried to reproduce the magic of the first version for friends, I felt it fell short of my memory. Perhaps because I didn't have Cherry Heering the second time?

We also had Gimblets and Gimlets in G, both quite pleasant.

The Glad Eye Cocktail, while not in itself all that fantastic, heralded some new and interesting news on the Savoy front.

Grace's Delight was another of the few a la minute spice infusion cocktails in the Savoy. I have to say I find this idea pretty darn interesting.

The Grand Royal Clover Club proved the most common version of a classic cocktails isn't always the best.

Of the cocktails that could use reviving, the Great Secret with Cocchi Americano was quite enjoyable.

We finished up by calling in the Navy for the Gypsy Cocktail.

For a short number of Cocktails, I have to admin "H" is looking pretty good. Definitely looking forward to some "Hanky Panky" and "Hoop La!"

Edited April 29, 2008 by eje (log)

[bostonapothecary]

Yeah, I'm still undecided.

My current inclination is to say they put too much flavor in the Dry and not enough in the Sweet.  Though, in general, I feel like my problem with the Dry isn't so much the flavorings as the wine base.

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I just found A. K. Quady in the bibliography of my wine making book in the section about distillation. He wrote papers for the American Journal of Enology about making brandies from thompson seedless and french columbard. I have a feeling it is the Vya Quady's father because they were published in the early 70's. I wonder if Vya does their own distillation for their fortifying spirits.

Most of the literature on producing vermouth claims it should be made from "grapey" white varieties like moscat and columbard which to me has an elder flower quality and the writers really look for one homogenous ideal of what vermouth should be.

So i bet the Vya crew would have access to every published formula out there. The direction they took the product is interesting. They might have wanted a dry vermouth stand alone aperatif. Somewhere in the last century there was a split where dry vermouth aperatif died and the extra light cocktail style began.

[thirtyoneknots]

They might have wanted a dry vermouth stand alone aperatif.  Somewhere in the last century there was a split where dry vermouth aperatif died and the extra light cocktail style began.

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It really does seem more like they were trying to make something tasty to drink alone vs. something that mixes friendly. Or at least they succeeded in only one of those areas (imo).

[lostmyshape]

They might have wanted a dry vermouth stand alone aperatif.  Somewhere in the last century there was a split where dry vermouth aperatif died and the extra light cocktail style began.

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It really does seem more like they were trying to make something tasty to drink alone vs. something that mixes friendly. Or at least they succeeded in only one of those areas (imo).

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i think vya extra dry is good to drink alone (i don't love it, but find it interesting and distinctive), but makes a really distracting martini -- fighting with the gin. however, i think it can make a super, super cocktail. i just would never use it the way i use noilly pras.

the botanicals (or maybe the wine used) has this "brine-y" quality that reminds me of sea spray. it's funny -- i perceive it as "salty", but when i taste it and really concentrate on the flavors, there's not really any salt. i think it pairs with whiskey better than with gin. i've been using it with bacon-infused bourbon to great success: 1 oz bacon bourbon, 1 oz rye, .5 oz m-r sweet, .5 oz vya extra dry, dash peychaud's, dash fee's whiskey barrel aged. soooo good.

[eje]

Hakam Cocktail

1 Dash Orange Bitters. (light dash Regan's and Fee's Orange Bitters)

2 Dashes Curacao. (Brizard Orange Curacao)

1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Tanqueray Gin)

1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Orange Peel.)

The last of this trifecta of Dry Gin and Italian Vermouth Cocktails, I found the Hakam the most enjoyable of the three.

I guess the question is, "Hey, isn't this just a Martinez?"

I suppose, since technically a Martinez is supposed to be made with Old-Tom Gin, it's not.

Still, the Hakam is well within spitting distance of the Martinez.

Who can complain about that?

Edited April 30, 2008 by eje (log)

[eje]

[...]

the botanicals (or maybe the wine used) has this "brine-y" quality that reminds me of sea spray.  it's funny -- i perceive it as "salty", but when i taste it and really concentrate on the flavors, there's not really any salt.  i think it pairs with whiskey better than with gin.  i've been using it with bacon-infused bourbon to great success: 1 oz bacon bourbon, 1 oz rye, .5 oz m-r sweet, .5 oz vya extra dry, dash peychaud's, dash fee's whiskey barrel aged.  soooo good.

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Interesting thoughts!

Saying the Vya has a briney character makes me think of some Scotches and Campari.

I wonder if it would mix well with either of those?