Thanks for the thoughts. I tend to agree that in most cases the Cointreau will probably serve better than the Grand Marnier, and at the price point I sure it will please most patrons. With limited selection here, certainly getting the best liqueur will be a struggle I will be enduring throughout, and have to make up for it with quality ingredients throughout. And lets face it not everything turned out the the old books is a home run either.
Tanstaalf, your comment on 2 bsp vs 2 da is very much a relevant and possibly in dept discussion in and of it self. That being what in vintage manuals actually is a dash of spirits? Even Mr. Wondrich in his book IMBIBE, admitted that that is really variable from one author to another and from one drink to another and one spirit to another. if one were to assume a dash of spirits being a consistent down/up dash movement as one would do with a bitters bottle only using a bottle of spirits and a pour then one regularly produces around 2 bsp to 1/4 oz. That is a truly significant jump from what most conventional interpretations, but not necessarily out of line in some drink recipes. As such I have settled on a measure of 1 conservative bsp as a starting point in most cases, and developing from there.
So onto today's Entry the Barbary Coast, again from the Savoy
Savoy
1/4 Gin
1/4 Scotch Whisky
1/4 Creme de Cacao
1/4 cream
R&T
3/4 oz Dry Gin
3/4 oz Rye
3/4 oz Dark Creme de Cacao
3/4 oz 10% cereal cream
The nose is very much chocolate and the first taste is too, the herbal tones of the gin are very evident immediately after, but tamed down from the whisky, additionally they keep the sweetness in check. The Savoy recipe calls for Scotch, which I don't suspect really would add to this. Not many Cocktails really shine with scotch IMO, so Rye it is. In fact I think that the Rye does a better job of marrying the Gin and the Creme De Cacao than the Scotch would. The cream and chocolate flavour really secures this as an after dinner cocktail and although this one is 75% alcohol, it is very smooth. Not a lot of interpretation in the proportions here and for what it is, I don't feel that departing from them is needed. This one is essentially an Alexander with Whisky added. Myself I prefer the Brandy Alexander to the Gin varriant, this one lands right between the two for me.
