Rittenhouse Square

The cocktail contains no Rye, so I assume Rittenhouse Square refers to the open-space, planned park designed by William Pen in Philadelphia. That makes this a colonial drink, and with cognac and French spirits, it is well within that style.

One change up to the recipe is that when it calls for anisette and I used Aguardiente. With a recipe with a dash of anisette you can't go wrong with Ricard. It is intensely herbal and has a cooling effect on ordinarily spicy spirits. I wanted that flavor in this cocktail, but I didn't want Ricard's drawbacks. One is that it overwhelms, and I wanted the orange flavor of triple sec to come through. The other is that it is cloudy when chilled, and I needed the drink to remain darkly transparent like a good cognac cocktail. 

Because the recipe called for a half ounce of anisette, I decided that it meant an anise infused sugar spirit (one of the definitions of anisette, because there are absinthe-style anisettes and sweet, lower-proof ones.) Thus, Aguardiente--the anise is more like a cinnamon and anise candy and it doesn't overwhelm or cloud up. Here's to keeping Rittenhouse Square clear!

• 1 1/2 oz. cognac (Martel single distillery used)
• 1 oz. curacao (triple sec used--and that's fine with Aguardiente, a rum-based spirit)
• 1/2 oz. anisette (Aguardiente used with a dash of Ricard. 
• maraschino cherry

Combine spirits in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry. 

 

Continental Cocktail

As far as creme de menthe drinks go, this one is easier to stomach. I'll start with that. The color is attractive and the lime and mint foreground tastes about the same as it looks. The bonus here is a good colonial rum like Buzzard Point will stand out when needed to, and it does. There's that panela sugar funk that brings this cocktail closer to being a colonial drink.

So with that in mind, we are talking about a drink that represents old Europe in terms of its invention of creme liqueurs like creme de menthe, and the rum trade in the colonies, represented by Buzzard Point and accentuated by this map of the Caribbean.

• 2 oz. light rum (District Distilling Co. Buzzard Point used)
• 1/2 oz. green creme de menthe
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Betsy Ross

A good colonial cocktail for a American colonial figure, the Betsy Ross has a lot of the spirits that we associate with old world cocktails. Cognac, egg yolk, port and nutmeg are the driving flavors, but they get help from a good bit of Angostura bitters and triple sec. These have the effect of tropicalizing the cocktail a little, or at least anchoring it in the new world scheme of the spice trade and the Caribbean islands.

• 1 1/2  oz. brandy (cognac please)
• 1 1/2 oz. ruby port
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 3-5 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3-5 dashes triple sec
• ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (For best results, shake the chilled ingredients without ice to achieve more egg yolk foam before pouring into the cocktail glass.) Dust with grated nutmeg. 

Washington Cocktail

You can tell the colonial style of this cocktail with its use of brandy and its outsized proportion of dry vermouth. Our founding fathers liked their brandy and fortified wines, and they combined them often. This still manages to be a lower ABV cocktail if that is your thing. It doesn't lack in flavor, though, with Angostura bitters and herbal vermouth.

• 1 oz. brandy
• 2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup (demerara used)
• dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Jamaica Glow

This is not a Caribbean cocktail. It comes across more as a colonial style cocktail that makes use of liquors on hand in order to create a tropical experience. You don't taste the gin much in this drink, which I think is the point. Rather you get a grape-like full-bodied wine flavor backed up by molasses from the rum.

I had an open bottle of Wild horse pinot noir on hand, and it is dry enough to qualify for the recipe. This cocktail feels as if it is trying to fortify wine and juice for those for whom wine itself isn't strong enough.

• 2 oz. gin (Sunset Hills used)
• 1/2 oz. dry red wine (pinot noir used)
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1 tbsp. dark rum (Lyon used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

East India

A spicy and tropical brandy cocktail, the East India seems to hint at colonial drinks of the broader British Empire. Really, though, I think that it is a pre-tiki cocktail because of its use of triple sec, pineapple juice and Angostura bitters. This combination is really different and strikes the drinker as exotic, not at all colonial American. But of course, all of these ingredients would have been available in the Caribbean, though not so much in East India.

• 2 oz. brandy
• 3/4 oz. triple sec (Luxardo Triplum)
• 3/4 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

 Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Cuban Cocktail

This is oddly a brandy cocktail that uses a tsp. of rum very sparingly. I was not sure why so small an amount of rum was used, but that was before I tried Buzzard Point--a rum you want to use sparingly.

Buzzard Point is a local D.C. distilled rum made from panela sugar. It is really funky, for lack of a better word. Just noticeable underneath many ounces of flavor-dampening brandies and lime juice. It is amazingly rich and strong and makes this cocktail a boozy tropical blast.

• 2 oz. brandy
• 1 oz. apricot brandy
• 1 tsp. light rum (Buzzard Point used)
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.