Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails

[eje]

I want to like Satan's Whiskers; but, I find it a tad too sweet.

This time (a little on the XL side):

3/4 oz gin

3/4 oz sweet vermouth

3/4 oz dry vermouth

3/4 oz orange juice

1/2 oz Orange Curacao

1/2 oz Aperol

Maybe if I knock the Curacao down a bit?

edit - was looking at the cocktaildb recipe when I wrote this up, instead of the one from "Vintage Spirits..." and wrote down the wrong amount for the curacao. This morning I was thinking, instead of decreasing the curacao further, of subbing in some lemon juice with the orange or using Meyer Lemon juice instead of orange.

Edited March 30, 2006 by eje (log)

[phlip]

try upping the gin and oj to an ounce and knock everything else back to half an ounce. also ive never saw a recipe calling for aperol. ?????

[eje]

try upping the gin and oj to an ounce and knock everything else back to half an ounce. also ive never saw a recipe calling for aperol. ?????

←

Oh, yeah, you're correct, I'm taking liberties with the recipe there.

Just got some Aperol and wanted to try it in something. It is an orange flavored bitter aperitif, so subbing it in for the orange bitters in a Satan's Whiskers seemed like not much of a stretch. Tilts the flavor a little toward negroni-land; but, it's pretty nice.

[eje]

Not to discourage anyone from buying Mr. Haigh's book now, but I have it on, oh, good authority that he is working on a revised version of "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" which should hit the shelves next year.

To quote the esteemed Dr. Cocktail:

It’ll be kind of a “director’s cut” with an additional 20+ forgotten cocktails and more hand-on direction by me of the layout. I bring the history section up to present and obviously have a brand new section on blogs, forums, and internet impact. It will expand on most everything and be in a hardback format that a) lies flat for utility when mixing and b) is larger. It’ll hit the shelves in July 2009. I believe this will be genuinely better than the first edition.

Cool, eh?

[Wild Bill Turkey]

My finger was mentally poised over the "Buy it Now" button. Now I'm ill at ease. Thanks for the update. The new one sounds good enough to wait for.

[slkinsey]

What? You don't want a First Edition?

[slkinsey]

One can hope that the Pegu Club cocktail recipe will be revised in the new edition.

[brinza]

Not to discourage anyone from buying Mr. Haigh's book now, but I have it on, oh, good authority that he is working on a revised version of "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" which should hit the shelves next year.

To quote the esteemed Dr. Cocktail:

It’ll be kind of a “director’s cut” with an additional 20+ forgotten cocktails and more hand-on direction by me of the layout. I bring the history section up to present and obviously have a brand new section on blogs, forums, and internet impact. It will expand on most everything and be in a hardback format that a) lies flat for utility when mixing and b) is larger. It’ll hit the shelves in July 2009. I believe this will be genuinely better than the first edition.

Cool, eh?

←

Wonderful! I'll be buying this without a doubt. I love the original. It's even enjoyable to just to sit back and browse through. The writing style is very entertaining and the photos and illustrations are like a museum catalog. The flat-open binding will be a welcome improvement (the current edition is one of the most difficult books ever to try to prop open while mixing the drink).

[Glacies]

Speaking of Pegu, did anyone else attend Audrey's Gin seminar at StarChef this week?

[FrogPrincesse]

Last week I made Jasper's Jamaican Planter's Punch (not to be confused with Jasper's rum punch, also in the book, which utilizes Wray & Nephew white overproof rum). I liked its simplicity: it's just dark Jamaican rum and Jasper's "secret mix", a mixture of lime juice, demerara syrup, Angostura bitters, and grated nutmeg. The books calls for Coruba but I substituted Appleton 12 because that's what I had on hand. I would love to try it again with the Coruba.

[Hassouni]

Anyone made a swizzle with W&N overproof?

[FrogPrincesse]

Anyone made a swizzle with W&N overproof?

I haven't but that sounds... strong!

[Tri2Cook]

Anyone made a swizzle with W&N overproof?

I have. Did it for last month's mixology monday. I'm not claiming it's great, I don't have much experience creating drinks, but I was happy with it.

[FrogPrincesse]

A couple of drinks from the book.

Trader Vic's Derby Cocktail with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Dolin sweet vermouth, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, and lime juice. Very good with the dry curaçao. Not too many cocktails with this combo. The Oriental comes very close I think?

The Communist with Beefeater gin, More blood orange juice, Luxardo cherry liqueur, and lemon juice. Nice and tart. There was almost a tangerine flavor to it (from the cherry + blood orange combo).

[brinza]

A couple of drinks from the book.

Trader Vic's Derby Cocktail with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Dolin sweet vermouth, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, and lime juice. Very good with the dry curaçao. Not too many cocktails with this combo.

That one has a sneaky flavor. You might be tempted to think that it's going to be a citrusy Manhattan-style cocktail (that's what I thought the first time I saw looked at the ingredients), but it ends up being more like an herbal whiskey sour.

Nice pics. Beautiful color on that Communist.

Edited February 8, 2013 by brinza (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

A couple of drinks from the book.

Trader Vic's Derby Cocktail with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Dolin sweet vermouth, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, and lime juice. Very good with the dry curaçao. Not too many cocktails with this combo.

That one has a sneaky flavor. You might be tempted to think that it's going to be a citrusy Manhattan-style cocktail (that's what I thought the first time I saw looked at the ingredients), but it ends up being more like an herbal whiskey sour.

Nice pics. Beautiful color on that Communist.

Thank you Mike!

I agree, the Derby Cocktail seems to belong in the sour family, despite the presence of vermouth.

[Hassouni]

Made a Jasper's Rum Punch (following the recipe from the book on Kaiser Penguin) and HOLY SHIT This is one of the best drinks ever. The interplay between the nutmeg and the Wray and Nephew is unbelievable

[FrogPrincesse]

Is there a reason nobody has mentioned the Palm Beach Special on this thread? Let's find out...

Gin, grapefruit juice, sweet vermouth - the combination sounds odd on paper. But we've seen improbable combos come together nicely in the past. I guess there is only one way to tell.

In person it is quite horrendous. I followed the recommendation to use Plymouth gin but it got lost in the mix. The cocktail had a very unpleasant finish and the sweet vermouth clashed with the grapefruit big time... I tried fiddling with it adding this and that and valiantly finished it. But I would not like to repeat this experience.

[Plantes Vertes]

Thank you for your heroic fortitude in bringing us this news, FrogPrincesse. By your suffering we have all been spared the Palm Beach Special

[FrogPrincesse]

Thank you for your heroic fortitude in bringing us this news, FrogPrincesse. By your suffering we have all been spared the Palm Beach Special

Yes... I took one for the team on this one.

Hopefully Ted Haigh/drcocktail will forgive me if he happens to read this. I have a ton of respect for him and what he has done with his book, but this drink just did not work for me.

[JAZ]

Is there a reason nobody has mentioned the Palm Beach Special on this thread? Let's find out...

Gin, grapefruit juice, sweet vermouth - the combination sounds odd on paper. But we've seen improbable combos come together nicely in the past. I guess there is only one way to tell.

In person it is quite horrendous. I followed the recommendation to use Plymouth gin but it got lost in the mix. The cocktail had a very unpleasant finish and the sweet vermouth clashed with the grapefruit big time... I tried fiddling with it adding this and that and valiantly finished it. But I would not like to repeat this experience.

We actually like this drink -- maybe it's not A list, but definitely B list. A couple of things -- we use white grapefruit whenever possible in drinks, and my guess is that the red grapefruit doesn't have the acid necessary to stand up to the vermouth. Also, we use Beefeater, mostly because that's our bar gin. Again, it seems to me that Plymouth would get lost. And third, we use M&R sweet vermouth. I'm not very familiar with Dolin, but I'm not much impressed with it. The one odd thing about this drink, as we make it, is that it really doesn't taste of grapefruit or sweet vermouth -- the combination ends up tasting like something else entirely. We happen to like it, but I guess if you're expecting a grapefruit drink, it would be disappointing.

[FrogPrincesse]

We actually like this drink -- maybe it's not A list, but definitely B list. A couple of things -- we use white grapefruit whenever possible in drinks, and my guess is that the red grapefruit doesn't have the acid necessary to stand up to the vermouth. Also, we use Beefeater, mostly because that's our bar gin. Again, it seems to me that Plymouth would get lost. And third, we use M&R sweet vermouth. I'm not very familiar with Dolin, but I'm not much impressed with it. The one odd thing about this drink, as we make it, is that it really doesn't taste of grapefruit or sweet vermouth -- the combination ends up tasting like something else entirely. We happen to like it, but I guess if you're expecting a grapefruit drink, it would be disappointing.

JAZ - Life is way too short for B list cocktails.

[scubadoo97]

I'm not a cocktail guy but ventured upon this vintage bottle of Old Crow bourbon this weekend<br /><br />This bottle dates to 1969<br />All I can say is this is light years away from current Old Crow<br />Flush with butterscotch, caramel and vanilla and is the highest proof Crow I've seen<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

[Plantes Vertes]

Well, clearly I was not paying adequate attention during our previous discussion of the Palm Beach Special, because this is what we (I) chose for cocktail hour today....

Actually I enjoyed it. It tasted strongly of pineapples and I concluded it was good for me.

[FrogPrincesse]

Well, clearly I was not paying adequate attention during our previous discussion of the Palm Beach Special, because this is what we (I) chose for cocktail hour today....

Actually I enjoyed it. It tasted strongly of pineapples and I concluded it was good for me.

Good thing you liked it since you made three of them!

What brand of vermouth/gin did you use?